ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Sickle Cell Disease remains a public health concern in developing countries including Nigeria. The objectives of this study were to determine the burden, quality of life, associated factors, and coping mechanisms associated with Sickle Cell Disease amongst adult patients attending Sickle Cell Centre in Edo State.
METHODOLOGY: This study was conducted in Edo State using a descriptive cross-sectional study design. Two hundred and eighty-six adult patients attending the Sickle Cell Centre in Benin City who gave their consent participated in this study. The respondents were selected using simple random sampling technique by tossing a coin. Instrument for data collection was an interviewer administered, unstructured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences for windows, version 22.0 software and level of significance was set at p < 0.05.
RESULTS: Amongst the two hundred and eighty-six adult patients that were examined, 127(47.0%) of the respondents had over ten crisis in the preceding year. Overall quality of life was good 269(94.1%). Age (p < 0.001), occupational status (p = 0.046), age at diagnosis (p = 0.002), SCD related hospital admission in the preceding year (p < 0.001), number of transfusions in the preceding year (p < 0.014), and number of emergency visits in the preceding year (p < 0.001) had significant association with quality of life of respondents. In addition, always praying/having faith in God, maintaining a healthy diet, avoiding triggers of pain, consuming vitamins, communicating pain to family and friends, visiting a health facility, taking pain relievers, planning appropriate solutions and tackling the problem, carrying out deep breathing exercises and meditation, maintaining an optimistic and gleeful disposition, shutting mind to the crisis, using music therapy as distraction, and performing physical activity were found to be coping mechanisms utilized by adult Sickle Cell Disease patients.
