title: Bayesian estimates of the prevalence of β-thalassemia trait in voluntary blood donors of central India: a survey.
abstract: Early detection of β-thalassemia (β-thal) trait is important. Voluntary blood donors represent an important group who are accessible and cooperative for this purpose. However, the usefulness of this population in β-thal trait detection programs has not been studied in India. We conducted a hematological survey of 5,045 blood donors who visited the Bhopal Memorial Hospital & Research Centre, Bhopal in central India. Using robust Bayesian methods, we estimated the prevalence of β-thal trait. The overall prevalence of β-thal trait in the study population was 9.59% [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 8.78-10.4%]. The prevalence of β-thal trait varied across the states of origin and within the state of Madhya Pradesh. We observed a cline effect for β-thal trait prevalence in relation to the latitude (p = 0.024). We conclude that blood donors offer an attractive adjunct to β-thal trait detection in national programs. Our study also offers insights into the β-thal trait gene flow and migration in India.
authors.affiliation: Thalassaemia Unit, Department of Transfusion Medicine, Bhopal Memorial Hospital & Research Centre, Karond, Raisen Bypass, Bhopal, India.
authors.forename: Nirupama
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Ravindra
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soni
authors.forename: Hemant
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.forename: Manju
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mamtani
authors.forename: Manisha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shrivasatava
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics