266332 Relationship between health knowledge of diabetes among adolescents donating blood with Carter BloodCare and intent to check blood screening results

Monday, October 29, 2012

Analise Castellanos , School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX
Raquel Y. Qualls-Hampton, PhD, MS , Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX
Stephen Eason, MBA , Carter BloodCare, Bedford, TX
Megan Branche, MPH , School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX
Rohan Amin, MBBS, MPH , School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX
Taiye Popoola , School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX
The prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes among adolescents is of national concern. Screening for diabetes risk using an A1C blood test in adolescent blood donors has been piloted by Carter BloodCare, the North Texas community blood program. Although results are made available, few check. This study assessed the relationship between knowledge about diabetes and intention to check screening results.

High school blood donors, age 17-19, were recruited to complete a survey immediately following donation, 944 participated with 785 completing responses used for analysis. Health knowledge of diabetes was determined by respondents correctly answering 11 of 16 questions. Intent to retrieve A1C test results was asked at the beginning of the survey, then repeated after a brief educational message regarding diabetes.

Intent to check blood test results were questioned at the beginning and at the end after the educational message. Approximately 78% initially indicated intent to retrieve results and an additional 12%, who initially responded they would not retrieve, said they would check the results after the educational message. A total of 66.9% of adolescents were considered knowledgeable. Knowledge scores for adolescents who stated an intent to check blood results both at the beginning and end were significantly higher than those who had no intention of checking results (p= 0.0002).

This exploratory study shows health knowledge is positively correlated with adolescents' intentions to retrieve blood screening results. Further analysis is needed regarding educational communication strategies among adolescents with a view towards public health application.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Chronic disease management and prevention
Public health or related education
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
1. Understand the distribution of knowledge of diabetes in adolescent blood donors in North Texas 2. Determine the difference that exists between the paired intent to check blood screening results variable of the adolescent donors. 3. Assess the relationship that occurs between health knowledge of diabetes and intent to check blood screening results among adolescent blood donors

Keywords: Adolescents, Health Literacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I was a student researcher for this project, overseen by Dr. Raquel Qualls-Hampton and Mr. Stephen Eason. I spearheaded the initiation and setup of the survey module, informational videos and developed the protocol for data collection. I am qualified to present this information, as I am the most familiar with the research and information collected and deduced. Among my interests are chronic diseases particularly among donors with Carter BloodCare.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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