Evaluating Thalassemia Awareness in Academic Environments: A Comparative Study among Medical and Non-medical Students

Thalassemia is a very common hemoglobinopathy that is present worldwide. When one of alpha and beta chains is not present in hemoglobin or is present in lesser amounts it causes thalassemia. 9 million population of Pakistan are carriers of thalassemia. 5% of the world’s cases of thalassemia are from Pakistan. This study is designed to check thalassemia awareness among medical and non-medical students. This was a cross-sectional study. 112 students were taken to answer the questionnaire through a non-random sampling technique. Out of the total participants, 57% were female respondents and 43% were male. Similarly, medical students were 58% and non-medical students were 42%. Of these, 81% medical and 57.1% of non-medical students knew that thalassemia is a genetic disorder. 64.5% of medical and 47.8% of non-medical students thought that there was a cure for thalassemia. Medical and non-medical students of 92% and 63.6% respectively, knew that thalassemia is treated with red blood cell exchange. 54.8% medical and 25% non-medical students knew that thalassemia is not contagious. It is concluded that medical students have more awareness of thalassemia than non-medical students. Medical students have more knowledge about the treatment and contagiousness of this disorder.