Increased Patient Activation Is Associated with Fewer Emergency Room Visits and Hospitalizations for Pain in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease.

OBJECTIVE: Recurrent vaso-occlusive pain episodes, the most common complication of sickle cell disease (SCD), cause frequent health care utilization. Studies exploring associations between patient activation and acute health care utilization for pain are lacking. We tested the hypothesis that increased activation and self-efficacy are associated with decreased health care utilization for pain in SCD. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study of adults with SCD at a tertiary medical center, we collected demographics, SCD phenotype, Patient Activation Measure levels, and self-efficacy scores using structured questionnaires. We reviewed charts to obtain disease-modifying therapy and acute health care utilization, defined as emergency room visits and hospitalizations, for vaso-occlusive pain episodes. Negative binomial regression analyses were used to test the hypothesis. RESULTS: We surveyed 67 adults with SCD. The median age was 27.0 years, 53.7% were female, and 95.5% were African American. Median health care utilization for pain over one year (range) was 2.0 (0-24). Only one-third of participants (38.8%) were at the highest activation level (median [range] = 3 [1-4]). Two-thirds (65.7%) of participants had high self-efficacy (median [range] = 32.0 [13-45]). Regressions showed significant association between health care utilization and activation (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.663, P = 0.045), self-efficacy (IRR = 0.947, P = 0.038), and male sex (IRR = 0.390, P = 0.003). Two outliers with high activation, self-efficacy, and health care utilization also had addictive behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Many individuals with SCD have suboptimal activation and reduced self-efficacy. Higher activation and self-efficacy were associated with lower health care utilization for pain. Additional studies are needed to evaluate interventions to improve activation and self-efficacy and reduce acute health care utilization for pain.

Hospitalizations among children with sickle cell disease enrolled in the Kumasi Sickle Cell Pan African Consortium (SPARCo) database: A cross sectional study.

Background and Aims: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the commonest monogenic haemolytic disorder in Africa. Despite strides made in its management, a significant proportion of patients are hospitalized from the various complications of the disease. This study set out to describe the main causes and outcomes of hospitalizations among pediatric patients with SCD. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Pediatric Emergency Unit of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital within a period of 12 months to recruit pediatric SCD patients. This study looked at causes of admission, length of hospital stay (LOS), and outcome of admission. Results: Of the 201 SCD patients recruited, 57.2% were males and majority were of SCD-SS phenotype 83.1%. The median age was 6 years. The three leading causes of hospitalization were Vaso-occlusive pain events (VOPE) (39.8%), acute chest syndrome (ACS) (25.9%), and infections (12.4%). Ten (5.0%) of the patients presented with a stroke. High admissions were observed in June (12.4%) and November (16.9%). The median (interquartile range [IQR]) LOS was 6 days (IQR: 4-10). Six (3.0%) of the patients died from complications of the disease during hospitalization. Conclusion: VOPE, ACS, infections, and acute anaemia from hyperhaemolysis were observed as the most common causes of admissions among SCD patients. A good outcome of discharge was seen in most of the patients that were hospitalized with a median length of stay of 6 days. This study also strengthens the importance of a good SCD database with patient follow-ups for better outcomes in SCD patients.