Efficacy of premarital genotype screening and counselling on knowledge toward Sickle Cell disease among university students in Dodoma Tanzania: uncotrolled quasi-experimental study

Background: Tanzania is experiencing the increase burden of Sickle cell disease, with an estimate of 20.6% Sickle Cell carriers. There is no preventive measure has been put in this area by the government; a great focus has been directed in the diagnosis and management and national guideline emphasis on the care rather than prevention. Methods: A non-controlled quasi-experimental study conducted from June to September 2020 among 697 randomly recruited students from the University of Dodoma. Pre and post-test knowledge information were collected through structured self-administered questionnaires. Data analysed using SPSS v20. Simple and multiple linear analysis model used to test for significant association of variables at 95% CI, at p<0.05. The results were presented using tables and figures. Results: The mean knowledge score at pre-test was 0.009{+/-}1.014 which improved to 0.365{+/-}0.901 on the post-test, with a statistically significant difference (t=6.965, p<0.01). The results of linear regression showed that knowledge change was not statistically associated with other predictors (p>0.05) Conclusion : Health education demonstrated to be effective towards change in knowledge on sickle cell disease among University students.