[Perception of ocular blinding manifestations of sickle cell disease by practitioners in Dakar university hospital]

In Senegal, 10% of the population are said to be carriers of hemoglobin S, the most widespread hemoglobinopathy in the world. It is responsible for potentially blinding ophthalmological manifestations. Few practitioners refer patients for ophthalmologic screening. The goal of our study was to assess the level of knowledge of practitioners of the blinding ocular lesions of sickle cell disease.

A cross-sectional prospective study was carried out over five months. It included Dakar university hospital practitioners aside from ophthalmologists. On the survey form, each practitioner specified his or her specialty and responded to eight questions regarding sickle cell patients seen in consultation, knowledge of the blinding lesions related to the disease, and ocular monitoring for blinding systemic diseases. The practitioners were divided into three groups: department of medicine and medical specialties (group I), surgery and surgical specialties (group II), and biology and functional testing (group III). The descriptive analysis was done with the EPI-INFO software version 6.04.

The participation rate was 45.88%. Group I represented 45.29% of the sample, Group II 35.85% and Group III 18.86%. In all, 87.73% of practitioners saw sickle cell patients in consultation, 75.47% were aware of ocular involvement related to sickle cell disease, and 58.49% were aware of blinding lesions. 94.62% of practitioners saw sickle cell disease patients without systematically recommending ophthalmological consultation.

Practitioners' level of knowledge of the blinding ocular lesions of sickle cell disease is considered to be low.