Academic performance among children with sickle cell disease: setting minimum standards for comparison groups

The conclusions from previous research on childhood adjustment to sickle cell disease (SCD) have been inconsistent. One possible explanation for this inconsistency is that such children sometimes have been compared to children with different demographic characteristics. This study examined whether 42 African-American children with sickle cell disease differ in academic performance from a comparison group of 26 with similar demographic characteristics. The two groups were similar by sex, age, race, and socioeconomic status. School data were collected for both groups. The differences between the two groups on academic performance were not significant. One implication of the findings is the importance of setting minimum standards for comparison groups in studies of children with sickle cell disease.