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Postmarital follow‐up survey on high risk patients subjected to premarital screening program in Saudi Arabia
Author(s) -
Al Sulaiman Ayman,
Saeedi Mohammad,
Al Suliman Ahmed,
Owaidah Tarek
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
prenatal diagnosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.956
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1097-0223
pISSN - 0197-3851
DOI - 10.1002/pd.2507
Subject(s) - medicine , family medicine , pediatrics , environmental health , obstetrics
Background Haemoglobinopathies are the most inherited disorders worldwide including Saudi Arabia which can be preventable with application of screening programmers. Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia had initiated premarital screening program (PMS) in all country regions. Methods The aim of this study was to explore the impact of the PMS program and genetic counseling on couples at risk for thalassaemia and sickle cell anima in an area of the country with high hemoglobinopathy prevalence. A total of 129 candidates identified by PMS to be at risk were included. Results Out of this cohort, 98% proceeded with marriage. Culture pressure was the main reason in more than 48%. Over a period of 4 years, these marriages resulted in 15 diseased children. Although most of the candidates did not receive genetic counseling yet, the concept of genetic counseling was liked by most of them. Conclusion This study showed some early benefits of the PMS in prevention of the targeted diseases and the program helped in early detection of the disease in their offspring. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.