A Mixed-Methods Study of Pain-related Quality of Life in Sickle Cell Vaso-Occlusive Crises

The quality of care for sickle cell disease patients hospitalized with a vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) is poor, resulting in staggeringly high healthcare resource utilization. To evaluate in-patient care for VOC, we conducted a mixed-methods study of all adult sickle cell disease patients admitted with a VOC from 2010-2012. We quantitatively assessed the quality of care for all patients, and qualitatively studied a subset of frequently admitted patients. In total, there were 182 admissions from 57 unique patients. The median length of stay was 6 days and the 30-day readmission rate was 34.0%. We identified red blood cell transfusion and patient controlled analgesia use as predictors of increased length of stay. Interestingly, unlike prior findings, younger patients (18-30 years old) did not have increased healthcare resource utilization. Moreover, older age appeared to increase readmission rate and enhance the effect of patient controlled analgesia use on length of stay. Interviews of high healthcare resource utilizers revealed significant deficiencies in pain management and a strong desire for individualized care. This is the first study to examine in-patient predictors of acute healthcare resource utilization in sickle cell disease patients and to correlate them with qualitative perspectives of high healthcare resource utilizers.