Study the pre-university and high school students’ level of knowledge on Thalassemia in Guilan

Introduction: Thalassemia is the most prevalent genetic abnormality in Iran and Mediterranean area. Increased incidence of Thalassemia with moderate or severe clinical symptoms could lead to decreased economic and human ability of society.  Objectives: The study aimed to survey pre-university and high school students’ level of knowledge on Thalassemia in Guilan. Methods: In this descriptive study, a statistical society was chosen from girls and boys studying in pre- university and high school level in educational year 2007-2008. They were randomly chosen from different cities of Guilan province. Data was collected through a questionnaire on Thalassemia. Answers valued a total of 20 and were based on 0-20 numbering system and after coding, they were analyzed using SPSS software version 14.  Results: In this study, the overall knowledge score of most students (66%) was 9.73 on natures of Thalassemia and 24.8% of them had knowledge score less than 10 on Thalassemia transmission. On the other hand, the knowledge score of statistical society was very low on clinical symptoms of Thalassemia, as 74.3% of students received a score of 8.58 but their knowledge was higher on prevention of Thalassemia and only 28.4% obtained a score less than 10. The overall average of students’ knowledge was calculated 11.07 from 20 on Thalassemia disorder. Conclusion: The obtained results showed that the knowledge level of Guilan province high school students about Thalassemia disorder was low (11.07 from 20) and this is very undesirable for Guillan province that has high incidence of Thalassemia.