Acceptane First Trimester prenatal Screening for Thalassemia at Srinagarind Hospital

Abstract

Background : Thalassemia  is  a  hereditary  anemia  which  is  an  important  health  problem  of  Thailand. About 30-40% of  population  are  carriers  while  1%  of  them  are  diseases.  There  were 1,000 thalassemia   patients  who  received  medical care at  the out  patient  department of Srinagarind  hospital per year. Screening pregnant women for thalassemia  carriers or diseases and hemoglobinopathy is one method in controlling thalassemia.

Objective : 1. To study the acceptance of screening for thalassemia in first trimester pregnant women.

2. To study the relation of demograpfic  factors, history  of  preterm  labor, family  history of  thalassemia, with screening acceptance and husbands’s acceptance of screenings and analytical.

Design : Descriptive study

Setting : Obstetric and Gynecology out patient department, Srinagarind Hospital.

Subjects : The 299 first trimester pregnant women who had a first prenatal visit between 29 january and 31 July 1996 were chosen for the study.

Measurements : Data was collected  by  questionnaires after the study group had received the information about thalassemia  from brochures. The percentage, mean values and Chi-square  or  Fisher exact  test were used for  data analysis.

Results : The  first trimester pregnant  women  who  accepted screening  were 295 cases (98.7%). There were no factures that significantly affected  acceptance. Of  the 155 positive screening pregnant women, 124(80%) had  their  partner tested. The family income was the factor  that  affected  partners’ acceptance.

Conclusions : These results  indicate  that the acceptance  of  screening for thalassemia in the first trimester pregnant women including the acceptane of  testing their partners when positive screening was high. This could be one of the effective methods in the thalassemia  prevention program.