(P28-042-23) The Impact of Nutrition Education on the Nutritional Knowledge and Nutritional Status of Ghanaian Sickle Cell Disease Adults at the Tema General Hospital of Ghana: A Pilot Study

Objectives: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder that mostly affects individuals in sub-Saharan Africa. Many studies have reported the negative impact of SCD on the nutritional status (NS) of children in Ghana. However, there is a paucity of data on the NS of SCD adults in Ghana. Individuals with SCD are mostly reported to be malnourished, which could be attributed to a lack of nutrition education (NE). Despite the nutritional deficiencies faced by these patients, frequent nutrition counseling is not part of their standard care in Ghana. This pilot study sought to evaluate the impact of a self-structured nutrition education (NE) on the nutritional knowledge (NK) and nutritional status (NS) of adult SCD patients in Ghana. We hypothesized that the NE would improve the NK and NS of SCD adult patients.

Methods: In this pre-post interventional study, eleven (11) adults, constituting 8 females and 3 males aged between 19 to 59 years with SCD (10 Hb SS and 1 Hb SC) were recruited from the Tema General Hospital adult sickle cell clinic. Following baseline NK, weight, height, and body composition assessments, the participants received a twice-monthly NE (focused on locally available foods which provide essential nutrients required by SCD patients) for 3 months, followed by a post-intervention nutritional assessment. Nutritional status was assessed using Body Mass Index (BMI), and participants were categorized into underweight, normal, overweight, or obese based on WHO cut-offs.

Results: At baseline, 82% of the participants had low NK on SCD (below a score of 6). However, their level of NK improved significantly after the NE (from 4.18±1.83 to 10.00±1.00, p < 0.001). At baseline, most of the participants had a normal weight (63.6%), whilst 18.2% were underweight and 18.2% were overweight. There was a significant increase in weight (from 58.07±9.62 kg to 60.50±9.95 kg, p < 0.005) post-intervention. This led to a reduction in underweight to 9.1% among the participants post-intervention.

Conclusions: Nutrition education improved the nutritional knowledge and the nutritional status of SCD adult patients in Ghana, hence its prospects must be further explored among a larger population of sickle cell patients due to its great potential to improve the nutritional outcomes of SCD patients.

Funding Sources: This pilot study did not receive any funding.