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EVALUATION OF LEVEL OF AWARENESS TOWARD SICKLE CELL DISEASES AMONG GENERAL POPULATION IN SAUDI ARABIA

Hassan Ahmed Alkhalaf, Yazeed Mohammed A Aldhfyan, Abbas Mohammed Abduljabbar, Alaa Jamil Zaman, Alhanouf Ayed Alanazi, Ameera Saeed Elahi, Ali Hassan M Alhawaj, Mohammed Ahmed Alqarni, Fahad Abdullah Alzahrani, Suliman Abdulrahman Alsuliman

Background: Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is genetic disorder characterized by defect in the shape of red blood cells (RBCs), which result in fast destroyed then leading to fatal anemia. Recently, Saudi Arabia has been reported to have an increased prevalence of SCD. Objective: To assess the level of awareness towards SCD among the general population in Saudi Arabia.Methods: A cross- sectional study based on questionnaire that distributed on 300 participants randomly and it was selfadministered questionnaires during the period from December 2018 to January 2019. Results: 300 Saudi participants have filled the questionnaires. All of the study participants (100%) had heard about SCD, The vast majority of participants (90.7%) knew that SCD is a blood disease, and most of them know that SCD is hereditary (79.3%). Regarding the participating factors that trigger the crisis, about quarter of participants believe that high altitude cause the crisis. In addition, most of the study population (91.3%) identified that SCD causes severe pain that requires hospitalization.Conclusion: In this study, a good level of knowledge and awareness regarding SCD was found. But regarding te complications of SCD, high percentage of participants are not aware about the complications. Therefore, community health education meetings and/or media programs to increase the public awareness are recommended. Keywords: sickle-cell disease, awareness, population, Saudi Arabia

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