Psychiatry Research EG

his/her functioning and well-being are considered the principal goals of medical care and are best evaluated by the patient. As a consequence, assessment of patient’s health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has become an important focus of outcome research in psychiatry and medicine. HRQOL measurement includes the assessment of somatic symptoms, psychological status, social interactions, physical, cognitive and psychosocial functioning, and sense of well-being as influenced by the health status. It is known that many physical illnesses may have a direct link to the appearance of depressive or anxiety symptoms that could have an impact on the quality of life [1]. Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the chronic diseases. The estimated prevalence of antigen (HbSS) is 3% in Egypt, 1.5% in the USA, and 0.8% in Germany according to the National Institute of Health. SCD comprises a group of genetic blood disorders. It occurs when the sickle hemoglobin gene is inherited from both parents in the same way as the blood type. It is characterized by red blood cells that assume an abnormal rigid sickle cell shape [2]. SCD usually presents since childhood; the effects of the condition are varying degrees of anemia, which, if severe, can reduce mobility, a tendency for small blood capillaries to become blocked, causing pain in muscles and bone, commonly known as crisis damage to major organs such as the spleen, liver, kidney, and lungs, and increased susceptibility to severe infections [1]. There are both medical and nonmedical complications and treatment is usually symptomatic and palliative in nature [2]. The aim of this study is to evaluate the emotional state in SCD patients and to evaluate the quality of life of those patients in different domains and to study the impact of different variables such as age, sex, type of complications, and the emotional state on the quality of life of these patients.