Table 3.
Participants’ beliefs about sickle cell disease stratified by age and sex for an exploratory study at University of Cape Coast from 2nd February to 22nd December 2022
| Total | Sex | P-value | Age (years) | P-value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | Male | 15–19 | 20–29 | 30–39 | ≥40 | ||||
| Sickle cell condition is a spiritual disease | 0.360 | 0.802 | |||||||
| Disagree | 356 (92.2) | 175 (93.1) | 181 (91.4) | 26 (83.9) | 280 (94.6) | 43 (82.7) | 7 (100.0) | ||
| Uncertain | 20 (5.2) | 7 (3.7) | 13 (6.6) | 4 (12.9) | 12 (4.1) | 4 (7.7) | 0 (0.00) | ||
| Agree | 10 (2.6) | 6 (3.2) | 4 (2.0) | 1 (3.2) | 4 (1.4) | 5 (9.6) | 0 (0.00) | ||
| Sickle cell condition can be prevented by personal choices | 0.173 | 0.347 | |||||||
| Disagree | 189 (49.0) | 96 (51.1) | 93 (47.0) | 19 (61.3) | 146 (49.3) | 22 (42.3) | 2 (28.6) | ||
| Uncertain | 61 (15.8) | 23 (12.2) | 38 (19.2) | 6 (19.4) | 46 (15.5) | 7 (28.6) | 2 (28.6) | ||
| Agree | 136 (35.2) | 69 (36.7) | 67 (33.8) | 6 (19.4) | 104 (35.1) | 23 (44.2) | 3 (42.9) | ||
| I may be stigmatized if people get to know that I have sickle cell disease | 0.654 | 0.136 | |||||||
| Disagree | 165 (42.7) | 83 (44.1) | 82 (41.4) | 9 (29.0) | 128 (43.2) | 26 (50.0) | 2 (28.6) | ||
| Uncertain | 89 (23.1) | 45 (23.9) | 44 (22.2) | 10 (32.3) | 71 (24.0) | 8 (15.4) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Agree | 132 (34.2) | 60 (31.9) | 72 (36.4) | 12 (38.7) | 97 (32.8) | 18 (34.6) | 5 (71.4) | ||
| Knowing my sickle cell status will make me less confident about forming a relationship | 0.199 | 0.544 | |||||||
| Disagree | 227 (58.8) | 111 (59.0) | 116 (58.6) | 14 (45.2) | 176 (59.5) | 32 (61.5) | 5 (71.4) | ||
| Uncertain | 53 (13.7) | 31 (16.5) | 22 (11.1) | 7 (22.6) | 41 (13.9) | 5 (9.6) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Agree | 106 (27.5) | 46 (24.5) | 60 (30.3) | 10 (32.3) | 79 (26.7) | 15 (28.8) | 2 (28.6) | ||
| Testing for sickle cell disease is painful and difficult | 0.501 | 0.011 | |||||||
| Disagree | 265 (68.7) | 124 (66.0) | 141 (71.2) | 17 (54.8) | 207 (69.9) | 34 (65.4) | 7 (100.0) | ||
| Uncertain | 85 (22.0) | 44 (23.4) | 41 (20.7) | 8 (25.8) | 69 (23.3) | 8 (15.4) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Agree | 36 (9.3) | 20 (10.6) | 16 (8.1) | 6 (19.4) | 20 (6.8) | 10 (19.2) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Having a child with sickle cell disease is a matter of fate as life is unpredictable | 0.009 | 0.328 | |||||||
| Disagree | 217 (56.2) | 100 (53.2) | 117 (59.1) | 13 (41.9) | 171 (57.8) | 27 (51.9) | 6 (85.7) | ||
| Uncertain | 53 (13.7) | 19 (10.1) | 34 (17.2) | 4 (12.9) | 41 (13.9) | 8 (15.4) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Agree | 116 (30.1) | 69 (36.7) | 47 (23.7) | 14 (45.2) | 84 (28.4) | 17 (32.7) | 1 (14.3) | ||
The data is presented as frequencies n (%) with statistical significance at p < 0.05 determined using chi-square test