Socioeconomic Status as a Determinant of Delayed Diagnosis of Sickle Cell Disease - A Case Report of Newly Diagnosed Sickle Cell Disease in a 52-Year-Old Woman
Emmanuel O. Egbunu
Lonia Clinic and Maternity, Warri, Nigeria.
Chukwuka Elendu *
Federal Medical Center, Owerri, Nigeria.
Opeyemi P. Amosu
Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
Oghenemaro Okine
Lonia Clinic and Maternity, Warri, Nigeria.
Denis Okine
Lancashire Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom.
Adenikinju S. Joseph
Northwick Park Hospital, London Northwest NHS Trust, United Kingdom.
Samuel I. Odoemenam
Lonia Clinic and Maternity, Warri, Nigeria.
Temisan N. Eyenor
Lonia Clinic and Maternity, Warri, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A look into socioeconomic status (SES) associations with delayed diagnosis of sickle cell disease (SCD) is necessary to improve societal norms, governmental health policies, and strategies. A person's social standing in a society is generally governed by the combination of his education, profession, and income, which is regarded as his SES. Considerable evidence establishes the likelihood of individuals from low SES suffering from the disease, cognitive problems, and increased mortality (Lubeck et al., 2019, National Research, 2004). Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the most common severe genetic hemoglobinopathies recognized by the World Health Organization as a global public health problem. Socioeconomic status (SES) is an individual's social or economic standing and measures an individual's or family's financial position or rank in a social group. Current guidelines and management algorithms of SCD do not factor in the effect of SES on patients with SCD. There needs to be more literature regarding the role of SES and its impact on clinical outcomes and characteristics of SCD. Studies have shown that lower SES is linked to disproportionate access to health care in many diseases, and of all the factors that measure SES, income was the most indicative.
Keywords: Sickle cell disease, health disparity, complications, socioeconomic status, sickle cell anemia