Investigating the causes of Beta Thalassemia after Start of Prevention Program in Jiroft City during 2001-2015

  Introduction:   Beta thalassemia major is the most common genetic disease in the world. The most common areas of this disease in the world are known as the Thalassemia Belt, which also includes Iran. Kerman province (and especially south of Kerman) ranks first in Iran in terms of the prevalence of thalassemia carriers. Hence, the present study was conducted to investigate the causes of thalassemia major after the start of the national thalassemia prevention program in Jiroft city.. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective and descriptive study, data of thalassemia major patients born after the start of the prevention program between the years 2001 and 2015 were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics and SPSS software.Results:  In a little narrative, the coefficient of influence of all items was more than 1/5. The ratio of validity was between 0/62 and 1 and the content validity index of each section was greater than 0.79, all of which were acceptable. The reliability of the questionnaire was performed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient which was calculated for knowledge (0/74), attitude (0/70), mental norms(0/73), perceived behavioral control(0/85), behavioral intention(0/ 85)  and behavioral 0/70,was estimated. Results :  Out of 91 thalassemia patients, 53% (n=48) were under the age of 10 years, about 23% of couples did not perform screening before marriage, and about 77% had thalassemia child despite performing screening. In terms of the first trimester of prenatal diagnosis, about 79% of couples did not have it and 21% had thalassemia child despite performing the screening Conclusion: This study showed that in spite of the decreasing trend of thalassemia births after the start of the prevention program in Jiroft city, this trend has been much less compared to other areas of the country and more than half of the births have occurred during the last ten years (after the start of the prevention program). Therefore, the main cause of new births of thalassemia is the low quality of the diagnosis prevention program (screening) and promoting the quality of its implementing is being felt at all dimensions. In addition, health education programs for target groups can be effective in eliminating this disease. ►Please cite this article as follows Ghorbani Aliabadi E, Mirrashidi F, Kiani A shahrokhi sardoo E. Investigating the causes of Beta Thalassemia after Start of Prevention Program in Jiroft City during 2001-2015. Journal of Jiroft University of Medical Sciences. 2019; 6 (3):.168-77