Clinical, nutritional and family conditions of children with sickle cell disease followed up in a referral hematology center: a descriptive study

Abstract

Objective: To describe the clinical, social and nutritional characteristics of children with sickle cell disease aged 5 to 9 years. Method: Cross-sectional study carried out in 2015-2016 with a random sample of 190 children receiving care at a reference hematology hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Results: The majority of the children had the genotype Hb SS (65.3%), were diagnosed with SCD during newborn screening (91%) and began clinical treatment before six months of age (91.5%). Overweight and low stature were found in 4.2% and 6.2% of the children, respectively. With respect to the household socioeconomic conditions, most of the parents had a partner (60.5%), lived with up to half the minimum wage (55.8%), and the women quitted their jobs to take care of their children (52.4%). Conclusion: Children with sickle cell disease were diagnosed early; nearly one sixth of them were overweight; and 20% of the parents had income of up to one fourth of the minimum wage. Strengthening the health care network in SUS for individuals with SCD is of vital importance to mitigate the problems identified in this study.

Keywords

• anemia falciforme. hemoglobina s. criança. estado nutricional. fatores socioecônomicos.