Assessment of communication modes in patients and families with sickle cell disease

摘要

To the Editor: Sickle cell disease is a chronic disease that requires long-term care, including patient self-management. For almost all patients with sickle cell disease, it is recommended that they have regular healthcare visits to manage their disease and that they follow recommended treatment plans [1]. Numerous studies have been done for other chronic disorders that look at the impact of utilizing Internet and cell phones on self-management of their disease [2-6]. Since it is known that the sickle cell disease population is drawn from a very impoverished group, these patients may lack the resources to manage their care via electronic communication [7]. Thus, the objectives of our study were twofold: (1) to determine if our patients have electronic access and use the Internet and/or cell phones for communication and (2) to determine if patients prefer to receive communications from the sickle cell center regarding appointments/other reminders via these routes.