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GHPC Materials Georgia Health Policy Center

1-13-2012

Sickle Cell Disease in Metro Atlanta Sickle Cell Disease in Metro Atlanta

Georgia Health Policy Center

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Georgia Health Policy Center, "Sickle Cell Disease in Metro Atlanta" (2012). GHPC Materials. 25. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/ghpc_materials/25

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Sickle Cell Disease in Metro Atlanta

Number of Georgia Babies Born with Sickle Cell Disease over Five Years

Metro Atlanta: 414 sickle cell disease babies born in �ve years

Types of Sickle Cell Disease in Metro Atlanta Babies

Overnight Hospital Stays and ER VisitsTogether, those 3,908 people made a total of 49,581 hospital and ER visits for complications related to sickle cell disease. Many more of those were ER visits (35,341) than overnight hospital stays (14,240).

Num

ber o

f vis

its

Hospital Stays and ER Visits by Age GroupThis group of 3,908 people made more ER visits than hospital stays in all age groups. People from 20-29 made the most ER visits (12,490) and had the most hospital stays (3,726).

Num

ber o

f vis

its

Sickle Cell Hospital Visits There were 3,908 people from Metro Atlanta who had hospital visits at some time over the �ve years for problems related to sickle cell disease. Many of these (937) had only one visit. Almost twice as many (1,846) had �ve or more visits - at least one per year, on average.

Num

ber o

f peo

ple

who

had

an

y he

alth

car

e vi

sits

Note: We are unable to tell from the records how many people with sickle cell disease did not make any health care visits in this time period.

Age of Patient

109

233 of 414

Newborn Screening Tells Us (2004-2008):

Hospital Billing Records Tell Us (2004-2008): H

Number of Visits

Type of Visit

Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett

Sickle cell anemia (Hb S/S) or Hb S/β0 thalassemia

Sickle C disease (Hb S/C)

Hb S/β+ thalassemia

Sickle cell disease with genotype uncertain

Compound heterozygous forms of sickle cell disease

937 people

503 349

273

1,846 people

-

250

500

750

1,000

1,250

1,500

1,750

2,000

1 2 3 4 5 or more

14,240

35,341

-

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

Hospital stays ER visits

2,502 2,990

3,726

2,491

1,542 738

218 33

4,029 3,421

12,490

7,900

5,402

1,705

332 62 -

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70 and older

Hospital stays ER visits

30

36

6

Sickle Cell Centers and Clinics in Georgia

Newborn ScreeningNewborn Screening is a program to test new babies for conditions that can cause major illness, mental retardation, or even death if not found early and treated. Early diagnosis and proper care and treatment can make a big di�erence for babies with these conditions. Sickle cell disease is one of the conditions tested for in Georgia.

Newborn screening is directed by the Georgia Department of Public Health in collaboration with doctors and hospitals across the state. Since 1969 over two million babies have been screened in Georgia.

Registry and Surveillance System for Hemoglobinopathies (RuSH)Georgia is one of seven states participating in the RuSH project. The goal of RuSH is to �nd out how many people in Georgia have sickle cell disease or thalassemia in order to improve health care and other resources for these populations.

The data presented here for your part of the state shows the kind of information RuSH was designed to collect and how it can be useful. Knowing there are more ER visits than hospital stays, and what ages of patients make the most visits, can help hospitals, health departments, patient advocates and others better serve people with sickle cell disease.

Six organizations with a range of perspectives and expertise are partnering on the RuSH project in Georgia:

• Newborn Screening Unit, Georgia Department of Public Health• Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of Georgia, Inc. • Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, Grady Health System• Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service, Children’s HealthCare of Atlanta • Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, Georgia Health Sciences University • Georgia Health Policy Center, Georgia State University

Children’s HealthCare of Atlanta

Grady Sickle Cell Center

Georgia Health Sciences University

(GHSU) Sickle Cell Center

C - Serves Children

A - Serves Adults

CA - Serves Children & Adults

Ware

Burke

Clinch

Hall

Laurens

Lee

Coffee Wayne

Early

Floyd

Bulloch

Worth

Fulton

Charlton

Screven

Long

Dodge

Emanuel

Decatur

Troup

Polk

Harris

Jones

Tift

Wilkes

Carroll

Dooly

Bryan

Grady

Liberty

BrooksCamden

Thomas

Telfair

Colquitt

Cobb

Sumter

Irwin

Bartow

Echols

Appling

WalkerGilmer

Glynn

Coweta

Mitchell

Elbert

Tattnall

Talbot

Taylor

Stewart

Jasper

Rabun

Berrien

WashingtonJefferson

Fannin

Macon

Lowndes

Union

Greene

Baker Pierce

Hancock

Wilcox

Bibb

Monroe

Upson

Brantley

Hart

Twiggs

Henry

Crisp

Pike

Terrell

Heard

Marion

Gwinnett

Toombs

McIntosh

Gordon

Murray

Jenkins

Walton

Miller

Effingham

Putnam

ClayBacon

Cherokee

Morgan

Wilkinson

Randolph

Houston

Cook

Meriwether

Jackson

Turner

Chatham

Oglethorpe

White

Banks

Atkinson

Johnson

Warren

Paulding

Dade

Newton

Wheeler

Butts

Pulaski

DeKalb

Madison

Baldwin

Jeff Davis

Crawford

Calhoun

Richmond

Lincoln

Candler

Haralson

Dougherty

Forsyth

Whitfield

Lumpkin

Evans

FranklinChattooga

Columbia

Pickens

Towns

Ben Hill

LanierSeminole

Lamar

Dawson

Fayette

Schley

Bleckley

Peach

Douglas

Treutlen

Barrow

Catoosa

Spalding

Muscogee

Stephens

Clarke

McDuffie

Oconee

Webster

Habersham

TaliaferroClayton

Montgomery

uitman

Chattahoochee

Glascock

Rockdale

CA

C

AC

A

ACCA

AC

AC

Public Health Outreach Sickle Cell Clinics(Services provided by GHSU)

- Dublin - Athens- Macon- Savannah- Waycross- Valdosta- Albany

Georgia

There are di�erent types of sickle cell disease.Sickle cell disease a�ects each person di�erently. There are di�erent types of the disease, some that are severe and others that are mild. It is important to know which type you have and tell your doctor. Some of the di�erent types of sickle cell disease are shown on the charts at right.

These are some things that are important to do if you have sickle cell disease:

• Get regular checkups • Get recommended vaccinations • Prevent infections • Learn healthy eating habits • Get support from others

People with sickle cell disease can do things to reduce complications.

FactsNot just African Americans get sickle cell disease.People whose families come from any part of the world can have sickle cell disease. That is why states in the U.S. test all newborn babies for the disease.

It’s important to know if you have sickle cell trait even if you don’t have any symptoms.Some people inherit a sickle cell gene from one parent and a normal gene from the other. In this case, they have sickle cell trait, not sickle cell disease. It is possible to have health complications from sickle cell trait unless you know what to do to avoid them. It is also possible to pass sickle cell trait or even sickle cell disease on to your children if both parents carry the sickle gene.

Sickle cells travel through small blood vessels and clog blood �ow. This causes mild to severe pain that can start suddenly and last for any amount of time.

Pain is the most common symptom of sickle cell disease.

Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia, Inc. 2391 Benjamin E. Mays Dr., Atlanta, GA 30311

404.755.1641 www.sicklecellga.org

Adapted from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Sickle Cell Disease Quiz: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/quiz/index.html