High hydroxyurea usage in sickle cell anemia regardless of patient demographics

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2-1-2024

Journal

Pediatric blood & cancer

Volume

71

Issue

2

DOI

10.1002/pbc.30728

Keywords

Medicaid; age; ethnicity; hydroxyurea; insurance; patient demographic; pediatric; sickle cell anemia

Abstract

Hydroxyurea is highly effective in sickle cell disease, but it is still underutilized. Reports of hydroxyurea utilization largely use Medicaid data, and socioeconomics is often cited as a barrier. To address whether patient demographics influenced the high hydroxyurea usage rate recently reported for the pediatric sickle cell program of Northern Virginia, analysis of data from 2011 to 2021 revealed no statistical difference in hydroxyurea usage rate between Medicaid and non-Medicaid, African American and African, or age less than 13 and age greater than or equal to 13 years cohorts, demonstrating that hydroxyurea can be successfully implemented across demographic groups.

Department

Pediatrics

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