Knowledge of sickle cell disease among school teachers

Abstract AR

Background & Objective: Sickle cell disease is a common health problem in Bahrain and affects 2-5% of the population.

Among those affected are children and adolescents with suffereings that lead to frequent school absenteeism and a decrease in educational attainments.These patients usually spend a lot of time at school, so it is important that teachers know something about the disease and first aid management required for their students, s This study aims to explore the knowledge of these teachers about the disease.

Methods: Forty-eight schools were randomly selected representing all the schools in Bahrain.A pretested self- administered questionnaire was sent to all teachers (n=1140).The questionnaire was designed to collect information about four different areas, one of which was relevant to the teachers' knowledge of sickle cell disease presentation.

Results: The response rate to the questionnaire was 88.8%.

The study showed that despite the preponderance of the problem, schoolteachers in Bahrain lack critical information on aspects of sickle cell disease.

Female teachers had better knowledge than males.

A large proportion of the teachers gave wrong answers to some basic questions regarding the presentation of this disorder.

Conclusion: More teaching and training sessions for teachers are linked to a further increase in knowledge levels.

In order to provide good supervision, teachers need more education in this area that will ultimately improve their knowledge levels of hemoglobinopathies and other hereditary blood diseases and reduce the suffering of such afflicted students.