Emotional Disorders and their Sociodemographic Correlates among Children and Adolescents Living with Sickle Cell Disease

Abstract

Background: North-Eastern Nigeria has high birth rates, low literacy levels and low rates of premarital screening for haemoglobin  genotype. This probably explains the high prevalence of sickle cell disease (SCD) among children and adolescents. SCD is a chronic  disease associated with high rates of co-morbid mental health disorders affecting both the sufferers and caregivers. Despite this burden,  there are very few studies that evaluated mental health disorders among people living with SCD in this region.

Objectives: To determine  the prevalence of depression, suicidality, and anxiety among children and adolescents with SCD and the sociodemographic correlates  associated with them.

Methods: This was a single-centre, hospital-based, crosssectional study conducted at the University of Maiduguri  Teaching Hospital. Children and adolescents with SCD were recruited for the study and issued a pretested sociodemographic  questionnaire (Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children Present and Lifetime Version [K-SADS- PL]). Data was analysed using SPSS version 20.

Results: There were a total of 165 participants with a mean age of 11.2 ± 3.2 years  comprising 83 (51.9%) males. Majority (98.1%) had only primary education, and most (83.8%) reside in an urban area. About 77% were  diagnosed to have SCD before the age of 8, and 57.5% have received care for more than 5 years. Emotional disorders were present in  53.1% of the participants. These consist of anxiety disorder 38.1%, separation anxiety 28.8%, depression 20.6%, agoraphobia 13.1%,  suicidality 5%, panic disorder 3.8%, social phobia/ specific phobia 3.1%, and general anxiety disorder 2.5% respectively. Statistically significant association (P<0.005) was found between emotional disorders and monogamous families, and parents’ occupation,

Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of emotional disorders amongst children and adolescents living with sickle cell disease attending  clinics in Maiduguri, which correlated with monogamous family structure, low socioeconomic status. Routine screening for emotional  disorders among children and adolescents living with chronic disorders attending the paediatric clinic should be considered and  psychosocial support should be provided.