The level of awareness and educational needs of adolescents with thalassemia major in Shirazcity

Introduction: Patients with thalassemia major are mostly teenagers in the country, and the role of the familyin caring for them is very important. Considering the chronic nature of thalassemia major and the involvementof all aspects of life, it is necessary for patients and their families to have sufficient knowledge about the diseaseprocess and treatment measures. This research was conducted with the aim of determining the awareness andeducational needs of adolescents with thalassemia major.Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in ۱۴۰۰ on ۲۵۴ boys and girls suffering from thalassemia majorreferred to the special diseases center of Shiraz city. The data were collected based on the researcher'squestionnaire in the form of interviews with teenagers and were analyzed using centrality and dispersion indicesand ANOVA tests, Student's T and Spearman's correlation coefficient with SPSS ۲۰.Results: The average age of adolescent boys was ۱۵.۰۲ ± ۹ and the age of adolescent girls was ۱۴.۹ ± ۸.۴. Theaverage of the ۲۰ educational needs raised was between ۲.۷۹ and ۲.۹۶ (from the maximum score of ۴) with aslight difference. The percentage of correct answers on all questions related to low awareness was ۵۰%, and thesubjects obtained ۳۷% of the total score of awareness. There was a statistically significant difference betweenthe average score of total educational need and the total score of awareness, with the education level ofteenagers. The educational needs of teenage boys with thalassemia were more than the needs of girls withthalassemia.Conclusion: The awareness level of teenagers with thalassemia major is low and they need a lot of education.It seems necessary to identify the educational needs of this category and plan to increase awareness and providenecessary services and improve their performance

کلیدواژه ها:

awareness ، educational needs ، adolescents ، thalassemia major