Background: The prevalence of hemoglobinopathies is very high in tribal castes of India. Moreover, it is also an important cause of morbidity and mortality in many tribal castes in India. The tribal students of medical college, as they are the candidates from those castes in whom hemoglobinopathies are common, can play an influential role in their own family and own society and play a key role to increase social awareness.
Objective: To find out the prevalence of various hemoglobinopathies in healthy tribal medical students.
Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Three milliliters of blood was collected in from each participant and processed for various investigations such as complete blood count, solubility test for detection of HbS (dithionite tube turbidity test), electrophoresis, HPLC, and methemoglobin reduction test.
Result: A total of 17 participants were found with different types of hemoglobinopathies among 77 participants. Sickle cell trait was the most common (15) among the participants. One participant revealed sickle cell disease, and one showed beta thalassemia trait. Nearly 41% of all hemoglobinopathies was seen in female participants from Dhodiya Patel caste.
Conclusion: Sickle cell trait is the most common among hemoglobinopathies in tribal medical students and commonly seen in the participants of Dhodiya Patel caste. Moreover, students from other subcastes were affected by sickle cell trait.
Key words: Tribal castes, hemoglobinopathies, sickle cell trait
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