AWARENESS OF TREATMENT PROTOCOLS WITH THALASSEMIA PATIENTS AMONG DENTAL COLLEGE STUDENTS

Introduction: Thalassemia is an inherited disorder which is characterised by less oxygen carrying protein and reduced RBCs in the body than the normal. Thalassemia is commonly described as the defect in the synthesis of globin chains Beta thalassemia is the major type in which there is defect in the synthesis of beta globin chain and depending on the severity of the illness beta thalassemia has three types: Minor, intermedia and Major. The most serious type is Beta thalassemia major which requires a regular blood transfusion and early death can result if it's not treated. Generally, thalassemia major causes chronic anemia which started in early childhood. The treatment of thalassemia needs a large amount of national blood-stock due to the requirement of lifelong as a treatment protocol, this could influence the use of blood for other types of treatments Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the awareness of treatment protocols with thalassemia patients among dental college students. Materials and methods: A well-structured questionnaire containing 12 self-structured questions was framed and circulated among 101 dental undergraduate students through online survey links. The results were collected, tabulated, and were statistically analyzed using SPSS software. Results Majority of the participants were aware 79.21% and the remaining were not aware for about 20.79% . Majority of the participants said that thalassemia is the defect in both alpha and beta globin chain synthesis 49.50% , 28.71% of them said that it is defect in beta globin synthesis and the remaining said that it is the defect in alpha globin synthesis 21.78% Conclusion:The results of the study has shown that there is considerable knowledge about treatment protocols for thalassemia among dental students. But more awareness needs to be created on the various types and procedures done for thalassemia.