Anxiety and Coping Strategies of Students with Sickle Cell Disease: Three-Year Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most prevalent inherited blood disorder worldwide andestimated 18 million Indians have sickle cell trait1 and 4 million have sickle cell disease2. The study aimsto find out the prevalence of sickle cell disease among university students and to identify coping strategies,they have adopted by them to deal with anxiety.Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional survey was done among 2126 students over duration of three yearsto identify with simple random sampling technique followed by purposive sampling technique. Diagnosisconfirmed by DTT and haemoglobin Electrophoresis before assessing the anxiety level and coping strategiesusing Hamilton-Anxiety Scale and Brief COPE scale through interview technique.Result: Total 143(6.73%) students was found sickling positive while 63(44%) was suffering with mild tomoderate level of anxiety and 52(36%) was in the range of moderate to severe. Among them 53(46.09%) hasused approach coping strategies whereas 62(53.91%) preferred avoidant coping strategies.Conclusion: Study finding suggest that students with SCD experience anxiety and they developed copingstrategies to deal with anxiety. Proper guidance will be helpful for developing effective coping strategies toreduce level of anxiety.