Depression in sickle cell disease

To assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms and examine the contribution of demographics, disease severity, and health care use variables to depressive symptoms in sickle cell patients who had been in stable health for at least one month. Subjects were a convenience sample of 27 men and 23 women selected during a routine visit to the sickle cell clinic at Howard University Hospital. Depression was assessed using a cut-off score from the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and related to a variety of health outcomes. The results of the analyses indicate that 44% (n=22) of the sample scored within the mild to severe (>20) range of depression on the BDI. Depressed sickle cell patients were more frequently treated in emergency rooms and more likely to be hospitalized with vaso-occlusive crises. Patients more likely to be depressed were: those with low family income (