Family planning needs of young adults with sickle cell disease

Abstract

Abstract Sexual and reproductive healthcare standards for adolescents and young adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) are not established. A total of 50 young adults entering adult SCD care completed a Family Planning Survey assessing sexual and reproductive health needs from March 2019 to July 2020. Clinical data were abstracted from respondents’ electronic medical records. Linear and logistic regression was applied to explore associations between clinical characteristics and survey results. Few respondents (8%) wished to be pregnant in the coming year, and 46% answered yes to at least one of four needs assessment questions. Those who were not employed full time were more likely to endorse needing help with getting sickle cell trait testing for a partner (ORadj = 9.59, p‐value = 0.05). Contraceptive use was associated with having an obstetrician–gynecologist (OR = 6.8, p‐value = 0.01). Young adults with SCD entering adult care have diverse reproductive health needs, highlighting opportunities to provide multidisciplinary, SCD‐specific reproductive healthcare.

Keywords

• anemia
• reproductive health services
• reproductive health
• sexual health
• sickle cell
• transition to adult care