Relationship Between Knowledge Attitude and Practice of Pre-Maritial Genetic Counseling and Testing for Sickle Cell Disease Among Undergraduate Students

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic hereditary disorder that requires lifelong medical care, often involving costly supportive therapy and specialized nursing and medical services. It is associated with high morbidity, reduced life expectancy, poor school attendance, and increased risk of drug dependence. Premarital genetic counseling and testing can help couples prevent sickle cell disease and other hereditary disorders resulting from genetic incompatibility. Aim: This study aimed to assess the relationship between knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding premarital genetic counseling and testing for sickle cell disease among undergradute students of Gombe State University, Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional design was adopted, and 110 respondents were selected using a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 26). Results: Overall, 22.7% of the respondents had good knowledge of premarital genetic counseling/testing, 30.9% had average knowledge, and 46.4% had poor knowledge. Additionally, 69.0% of the respondents exhibited a negative attitude toward premarital genetic counseling/testing, whereas only 31.0% had a positive attitude. Practice was also low: only 20.9% and 59.1% were willing to undergo premarital counseling before marriage and were neutral, respectively. Knowledge showed a weak but positive and statistically significant association with attitude (r = 0.23, p < 0.05), but no significant relationship was found between knowledge and practice (p > 0.05) or between attitude and practice (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The study concludes that the knowledge, attitude, and practice of premarital genetic counseling s among undergraduate university tudents are suboptimal and require urgent intervention through targeted awareness and advocacy programs.