Abstract
Introduction: Acute pain is a hallmark of sickle cell disease (SCD) for which frequent hospital admissions may be required, affecting the quality of life of patients.
Objectives: To characterise the relationship between adult patient self-reported sickle cell pain, mood and quality of life during and after hospital admissions.
Design: Longitudinal study across three time-points.
Setting: Secondary care, single specialist sickle cell centre.
Participants: 510 adult patients with SCD admitted to hospital daycare or inpatient units.
Outcome measures: Self-assessments of pain, mood and health-related quality of life with health utility (measured on the EQ-5D) on admission, before discharge and at 1-week postdischarge.
Results: Mood, general health and quality of life showed significant steady improvements with reduction of pain in patients with SCD on admission to hospital, before discharge and at 1-week follow-up (p<0.01). Health utility scores derived from the EQ-5D showed a negative association with pain in regression analysis over the three time-points.
Conclusion: Examining health-related quality of life and health utility in relation to pain during hospital admissions is valuable in terms of targeting appropriate psychological interventions within the context of a multidisciplinary approach to managing sickle cell pain. This has implications for healthcare costs.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | BMJ Open |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2012 |