Awareness and acceptability of premarital screening of sickle cell disease among undergraduate students of the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State

Abstract

Premarital screening for the diagnosis of Sickle Cell Disease is helpful in the prevention of the condition. It  provides information about the health of the individual while assessing their health related reproductive risk. To evaluate the level of awareness and acceptability of premarital  screening for sickle cell disease amongst  undergraduate students of the University of Benin, Benin City Nigeria. This cross-sectional, descriptive study was carried out amongst undergraduate students in the University of Benin, Benin City. A total of 400 respondents were selected using the multistage sampling method. Data was collected using pretested, self-administered   questionnaire and analysed using SPSS version 16.0. A total of 400 respondents participated in the study.  Awareness of sickle cell disease (98.8%) and genetic screening (78.9%) for sickle cell disease were high among the participants. The level of acceptability of genetic screening for sickle cell disease by participants was high (96.6%). There was a high level of awareness and acceptability of genetic screening for sickle cell disease amongst  undergraduate students of the University of Benin. Health education is still needed to help them make well  informed decisions concerning genetic screening for Sickle Cell Disease.