[Current level of information about sickle cell disease among medical students at Brussels, Belgium]

The increasing prevalence of sickle cell disease (SCD) is an important issue in Belgium due to migrations from high prevalence areas. It has become the most common genetic disease in Belgium. The impact is important in terms of health service delivery, especially since Belgian physicians have little experience with the disease. This study was designed to determine the current level of knowledge about SCD among medical students at the Louvain's Catholic University, Brussels.

This study was part of a larger cross-sectional and descriptive study carried out at the Louvain's Catholic University in December 2010. Data were collected from medical students using self-administered structured questionnaires.

In this study, 152 students were enrolled. All respondents had heard about SCD, the majority during their medical school curriculum. All students (100%) thought SCD is an African disease. A majority recognized that SCD is a serious illness and that it is linked with malaria. Anemia was the most frequently cited symptoms (98.0%) followed by splenomegaly (77.5%). Only 51% reported pain as a symptom. A majority knew they would have patients with the disease in their future career but only 2.3% of students considered specializing in the field of SCD. Using criteria for scoring information delivery, awareness about SCD was among the lowest in Belgium.

For Belgian medical students, SCD is an exotic disease. Too little information about SCD is delivered. Continuing medical education about SCD can be recommended for medical students in Belgium.