Özet:

Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the effect of thalassemia training programs on the educational level of thalassemia traits. Material and Methods: In this study, 67 individuals who have been diagnosed as thalassemia traits in their premarital hemoglobinopathy screening between July 2014 and February 2015 in Kahramanmaraş Mother and Child Care and Family Planning Center, were enrolled. A survey formed by researchers was presented to all participants. Ten knowledge questions about thalassemia were addressed to participants prior to the training. Each question was scored with one point and the educational level was evaluated on 10 points. Then individuals were given a training program of 15 minutes, and the items were requested. Results: Forty Two (62. 7% ) of participants were male, 25 (373%) were female, and the average age was 26.01±5.80 (min=18, max=50). Thirty four (50.7%) participants stated that they had heard about thalassemia disease before, while 33 (49.3%) participants stated they did not. Nineteen participants (49.3%) agreed with the expression 'Consanguineous marriage increases the risk for being a thalassemia trait' while 42 participants (62.7%) had no idea, and 6 participants (9.0%) did not agree with the expression. Twenty two participants (32.8%) agreed with the expression 'Child of two thalassemia traits may have thalassemia' while 38 participants (56.7%) did not claim an idea, and 7 participants (10.4%) did not agree with the expression. Mean score of the survey before the training program was 3.52±3. 23, and the average score of the test after training was 8.80±1.52. We found that educational level of participants increased significantly after the training (p<0,001). In our study, the average score of women before the training was 3.32±3.00, and the score of men was 3.64±3.39. The educational levels of men and women were similar (p=0.696). We found that the average score of individuals who were high school graduates or below was 3.26±3.44, and the average score of individuals who were university graduates or above was 3.15±3.04. Educational levels of high school graduates or below and university graduates or above were similar (p=0.912). Conclusion: We determined that thalassemia treats seriously lacked information about thalassemia. Furthermore, we detected that the training program about thalassemia increased their educational level significantly. The efficiency and significance of training programs in the fight against thalassemia was manifested.