Adolescents and young adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) who don’t regularly take the medication hydroxyurea (or who don’t adhere to prescribed instructions) are generally those with medication-taking barriers such as forgetfulness, lack of access, poor medication knowledge, fear of side effects, or doubts about the drug’s treatment, according to new research. Patients with more barriers to taking their medication tended to have a lower quality of life.
The study, “Barriers to hydroxyurea adherence and health-related quality of life in adolescents and young adults with sickle cell disease,” was published online in the European Journal of Haematology. The researchers focused on clarifying the relationship between these barriers and quality of life for SCD patients.