The Effect of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on the Function of Thalassemic Patients

Background: In thalassemia major as a chronic disease patients need to require information about the disease processes and therapeutic interventions. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice behavior of thalassemic patients. Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive knowledge, attitude and practice study conducted in Zafar adult thalassemia clinic, Tehran, Iran, with a simple random sampling. The questionnaire was designed by a research team including an expert physician involved in counseling and education of thalassemic patients for many years. Results: One hundred and ninety thalassemic patients entered the study. Ninety nine patients (52.1%) were female, 91(47.9%) were male, with age range of 14 to 48 years (mean 26.79 ±5.96). Results of the knowledge part of the questionnaire indicated that 39 % of patients had poor information about thalassemia 32.5% had little information and 28.5% had satisfying information. Fifty eight percent of patients had a positive attitude towards their appearance, quality of life and social relations. Positive attitude was significantly correlated with good knowledge (p=0.009). Low knowledge about the disease had caused treatment to be irregular and improper. Based on our questionnaire 144 patients (75.8%) were depressed which was significantly higher among females (P=0.002). Conclusion: Increasing knowledge, attitude and practice awareness among thalassemic patients considering their disease and treatment methods has a positive influence in their quality of life. This will improve their performance to deal with their lifelong disease and its challenges during the course of treatment.