Depression, disease severity, and sickle cell disease

The present study examined depressive symptomatology in 440 adults with sic kle cell disease (SCD). Participants completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) as part of their yearly routine visits to the Duke University-University of North Carolina Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center They also completed questions regarding demographics, disease sever ity, pain, and health care use. Darn analyses revealed that the percentage of patients with SCD exhibiting significant depressive symptomatology, drop ped from 43 to 18% when a more stringent cutoff was used on the CES-D, sugg esting that future studies should determine the most valid cutoff score for identifying depression ill patients with SCD. Gender and family income Mer e positively and significantly associated with depressive symptomatology. A lso, patients who reported more frequent painful episodes were more likely to report depressive symptoms. Implications for assessment and treatment of depression in adults with SCD are discussed.