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The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences in quality of life (QoL) between two groups of pediatric sickle cell patients: those who used hydroxyurea and those who chose not to use the medication to treat sickle cell disease.

The study was a quantitative, non-randomized, cross-sectional, comparative study. In total, 100 children ages seven to 17 participated in the study. Parents of the patients completed a demographic questionnaire while the participants completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (Peds QoL) and Sickle Cell Disease Quality of Life Inventory (SCD QoL).

The Ped QoL regression analysis revealed that hydroxyurea use and parental marital status accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in Ped QoL. The SCD QoL regression analysis also revealed that hydroxyurea and age accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in SCD QoL. Finally, the regression analysis revealed that SCD, parental marital status, parental income, sex, age, race and number of siblings did not account for a significant proportion of the variance in SCD crises per year.

This paper proved a need to study the differences in QoL between those pediatric patients who used hydroxyurea and those who did not use the medication.