Spina Bifida Cross-Sectional Study

The number of individuals born with the neural tube defect, spina bifida, is still widespread here in the United States. To briefly explain, spina bifida is a birth defect where the baby's vertebrae does not fully enclose the spinal cord. There are specifically four types of spina bifida, with varying degrees of severity. This severity can range from no symptoms to complete paralysis below the cleft area. To put this issue into perspective, approximately 166,000 individuals in the United States, today, are affected by spina bifida (National Health Institute, 2017). The purpose of the study is to determine if there is a knowledge discrepancy of health care needs between individuals who have Spina Bifida and ASU students studying a health profession. This will determine if there is a need to improve health care education of students, professionals, and members of a spina bifida association in respect to spina bifida. Not only that, this study will also identify if there is a need to increase awareness and prevention of spina bifida in the community to improve health outcomes for those affected by spina bifida. A total of 136 participants were studied with the 32-question survey. It was found, through the survey, that there was a knowledge mismatch between spina bifida members and ASU students who were studying a health profession. This knowledge mismatch was also compared with how well they answered the various questions as a group.