SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC STATUS OF THE BANGLADESHI PARENTS AMONG THALASSEMIC CHILDREN

Dr. Mohammad Shawkat Hossain Khan*, Dr. Md. Shafiqul Islam, Dr. Md. Asaduzzaman, Dr. Md. Noor Uddin Talukder, Dr. Habiba Jesmin and Dr. Fakhrul Amin Badal

ABSTRACT

Objective: In this study our main goal is to evaluate the sociodemographic status among the parents of thalassemic children. Method: This was a Hospital based cross sectional observational study which was conducted at Department of Pediatrics, Saheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital, Bogura, Bangladesh from November 2010 to July 2011, where total 50 parents of thalassemia children were selected by simple randomization. Results: During the study, most of the patients were boys, 72% and 28% were girls. 36% parents were illiterate, 56% parents were literate, 8% parents were educated and no parents were highly educated. Parent’s perception about carrier state was inadequate. Only 08% of the parents had idea about consanguineous spread of thalassemia. Conclusion: The management of thalassaemia in a developing country like Bangladesh poses a major challenge to the health services. Because of the economic conditions, many thalassemia patients are unable to take the two-tier treatment, namely blood transfusion and iron chelation. Lack of facilities and coordination to this multi-disciplinary problem make the treatment difficult in a variety of ways.

Keywords: Sociodemographic status, thalassaemia, blood transfusion and iron chelation.