ACCEPTABILITY OF PRENATAL-DIAGNOSIS OF SICKLE-CELL-ANEMIA (SCA) BY FEMALE-PATIENTS AND PARENTS OF SCA PATIENTS IN NIGERIA

The acceptability of prenatal diagnosis (PND) of sickle cell anaemia ( SCA) as a means of controlling sickle cell disorder in Nigeria was exa mined using a structured questionnaire.dagger The respondents were com prised of 92 adult female patients with SCA, aged 15-20 (23 +/- 6) yea rs; 53 HbAS mothers, aged 20-61 (37 +/- 11) years and 48 HbAS fathers, aged 33-65 (46 +/- 8) years. More than 85% of the respondents would l ike PND to be offered in Nigeria and 92% of the HbAS mothers as well a s 86% of the fathers would like to have the investigation or allow the ir wives to go through the procedure, respectively. Only 35% of the pa tients as compared to 63% of the mothers and 51% of the fathers would opt for termination of an affected pregnancy. Fear of the complication s of abortion and religious convictions were the two most frequently c ited reasons for opposing pregnancy termination. The high percentage o f parents who would opt for termination of an affected pregnancy was a ssociated with the societal emphasis on perfection and on previous exp erience in management of SCA patients. It is interesting that most of the respondents still favoured effective genetic counselling as the be st means of controlling SCA.