Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the commonest genetic illness of human beings. In Brazil it is predominant among black and dark-skinned people; every year 3,500 children are born with SCD and 200,000 with the sickle cell trait. In conditions of hypoxia, red blood cells assume the shape of a sickle. Patients may evolve with capillary occlusion causing acute and chronic tissue lesions in organs, which is almost always accompanied by pain. With the purpose of improving knowledge related to the epidemiologic aspects of the illness and how patients cope with it, 47 over 18-year-old patients from the city of Uberaba were studied during home visits. Of these predominantly female patients (59.6%), 78.7% were black, 17% dark-skinned and 4.3% white. In respect to the type of hemoglobinopathy, 63.8% had hemoglobin SS; 17% had hemoglobin SC and 10.6% had sickle beta-thalassemia. The majority (74.5%) lived in poor regions of the city, 42.5% had concluded high school, 38.2% were either retired or did not have any specific profession, 48.9% earned up to one minimum wage and 19.1% did not receive any wages. In respect to their feelings, 38.3% showed they accepted their illness, 21.3% were resentful, 17% were sad and 46.8% said their lives had changed for the worse in relation to work and 31.9% in relation to leisure. It was possible to show with this study that SCD negatively reflects on activities related to work and on the patient's quality of life. Thus, difficulties in coping with the illness, such as poor housing, unemployment and/or badly paid jobs, may be minimized with social and psychotherapeutic accompaniment, which should be made available to every SCD patient.
Anemia, sickle cell; epidemiology; quality of life
