Acceptability of neonatal screening of the sickle cell disease during the pandemic of COVID-19 in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Published in: The Pan African medical journal Vol. 37; p. 299
• Main Authors: Kasai, Emmanuel Tebandite, Opara, Jean Pierre Alworong A, Agasa, Salomon Batina, Gulbis, Béatrice, Uvoya, Naura Apio, Nguma, Jean Didier Bosenge, Maloba, Philippe Kasongo, Hubert, Philippe, Etienne, Anne-Marie, Djang Eing A, Roland Marini
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: French
• Published: Uganda 2020
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Anemia, Sickle Cell - diagnosis; Communication; COVID-19; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Mothers - statistics & numerical data; Neonatal Screening - methods; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Socioeconomic Factors; Treatment Refusal - statistics & numerical data; Young Adult; Democratic Republic of the Congo; COVID-19; HemotypeSCTM; DRC; neonatal screening; Sickle cell disease; Kisangani; acceptability
• ISSN: 1937-8688
• DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2020.37.299.26654

the implementation of neonatal screening to identify infants with sickle cell disease during the COVID-19 pandemic is a major challenge in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The purpose of this study is to determine whether socio-economic factors are associated with acceptability of newborn screening to identify infants with sickle cell disease during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kisangani, DRC. we conducted an observational study of mothers sensitized to neonatal screening to detect sickle cell disease in their newborns with hemotypeSC (HT401RUO-USA). The study was carried out at the maternity wards in Kisangani from March 21 to June 30 2020. Collected data were parity, educational level, age, socio-economic level, occupation, awareness and the reason for the denial of screening. out of 55.5% (273/492) of sensitized mothers, 107 (39.19%) accepted and 166 (60.80%) refused neonatal screening to detect sickle cell disease in their newborn. The reasons for refusal were lack of information (67.5%; 95% CI [59.8-74.5]), lack of money due to confinement (66.3%; 95% CI [58.5-73.4]), blood test to develop a vaccine for protection against COVID-19 (63.2%; 95% CI = [55.4-70.6]). Factors associated with the acceptability of screening were age > 35 years (p = 0.0009; ORa = 3.04; 95% CI = 1.57-5.87) and low socio-economic level (p = 0.0016; ORa = 2.29; 95% CI = 1.37-3.85). the acceptability of neonatal screening to detect sickle cell disease during COVID-19 is low in Kisangani. The government should identify effective communication channels to promote health care initiatives.