Feasibility of and barriers to thalassemia screening in migrant populations: a cross-sectional study of Myanmar and Cambodian migrants in Thailand
Open Access
- 21 June 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in BMC Public Health
- Vol. 21 (1), 1-15
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11059-2
Abstract
Background: Thalassemia, an inherited hemoglobin disorder, has become a global public health problem due to population migration. Evidence-based strategies for thalassemia prevention in migrants are lacking. We characterized barriers to thalassemia screening and the burden of thalassemia in migrant workers in Thailand. Methods: Multilingual demographic and KAP surveys were completed by 197 Thai, 119 Myanmar, and 176 Cambodian adults residing in Thailand. Thalassemia awareness, socio-demographic predictors, and knowledge and attitude scores were compared between migrant and Thai subjects. Comprehensive thalassemia testing was performed for migrants. Results: Migrants had extremely poor thalassemia awareness (4.1%) compared to Thai subjects (79.6%) and had lower thalassemia knowledge scores but similar attitude scores. Surveys identified differing sociodemographic factors predicting awareness in Thai and migrant subjects, as well as key misconceptions likely to hinder thalassemia screening uptake. Nearly all migrants consented to thalassemia testing. We identified abnormal hemoglobin profiles in 52.7% of migrants and a higher projected rate of severe thalassemia births in migrants. Conclusions: The high burden of thalassemia and tremendous knowledge gap in migrants needs urgent attention. Thalassemia screening was feasible and acceptable in our migrant population. Sociocultural and structural barriers merit further attention when designing thalassemia screening and prevention policies for migrants in Thailand and globally.Funding Information
- National Institutes of Health
This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Impact of Migrations on the Health Services for Rare Diseases in Europe: The Example of Haemoglobin DisordersThe Scientific World Journal, 2013
- Public perceptions and attitudes toward thalassaemia: Influencing factors in a multi-racial populationBMC Public Health, 2011
- The Population Genetics and Dynamics of the ThalassemiasHematology/Oncology Clinics of North America, 2010
- Thalassemia as a global health problem: recent progress toward its control in the developing countriesAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2010
- Iron chelation therapy in the management of thalassemia: the Asian perspectivesInternational Journal of Hematology, 2009
- Global epidemiology of haemoglobin disorders and derived service indicatorsBulletin of the World Health Organization, 2008
- ‘Rakter dosh’—corrupting blood: The challenges of preventing thalassemia in Bengal, IndiaSocial Science & Medicine (1982), 2006
- Changing Patterns of Thalassemia WorldwideAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2005
- Persistence of Mediterranean anaemia in Sicily.Journal of Medical Genetics, 1997
- Cultural and psychosocial considerations in screening for thalassemia in the Southeast Asian refugee populationAmerican Journal of Medical Genetics, 1993