Correlates of hopelessness in clinically stable nigerian adults with sickle cell disease

Hopelessness is the most significant predictor of suicide among the clinical and nonclinical populations. The aim of this study is to examine the correlates and predictors of hopelessness among Nigerian adults with sickle cell disease (SCD).

Adopting a convenience sampling technique, 123 clinically stable SCD adult patients were selected from three hematological centers in Southwestern Nigeria. They completed a sociodemographic and illness-related questionnaire in addition to the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CDRISC-10), and the Sickle Cell Self-Efficacy Scale (SCSES). The relationship between hopelessness and the other study variables was examined using correlational analysis (Spearman's rho). The extent of the variance these measures contributed to the score on the BHS was evaluated applying hierarchical regression analysis. The level of statistical significance was set at P value less than 0.05.

The mean age (years) of the participants was 25.38 ± 6.73 years. There were 68 (55.3%) females. The mean BHS score was 2.89 ± 3.30. Hopelessness had modest negative correlations with hemoglobin concentration (r = -0.366, P < 0.001), resilience (r = -0.483, P < 0.001), and self-efficacy (r = -0.318, P < 0.001), while modest positive correlations were observed with the HADS-Anxiety (r = 0.351, P < 0.001) and Depression (r = 0.530, P < 0.001) subscales. The hemoglobin concentration, resilience, and depression were the main predictors of hopelessness.

Hopelessness among clinically stable Nigerian adults with SCD is significantly influenced by hemoglobin concentration and psychological variables (resilience and depression). These variables can serve as templates for the development of health promotion strategies (medical and psychological) aimed specifically at the amelioration of the severity of hopelessness within this population.