Feasibility of a Stress Reduction Intervention Study in Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle Cell Disease, Stress

Stress is known to trigger acute pain crisis of sickle cell disease (SCD). SCD is an inherited blood disorder that afflicts about 100,000 people in the United States, and is among the most common lethal genetic diseases in the United States. Though worldwide in distribution, in the US it is most commonly found in African Americans. Its best known complication is severe, recurrent relentless pain, often known as pain crisis. Non-drug treatment for SCD pain such as cognitive coping interventions have been shown to be effective for reducing SCD pain intensity, but they are complicated, multifaceted, and time-consuming. A simple and cost-effective alternative such as guided imagery (GI) could reduce the effect of stress on SCD pain. GI is an intervention where patients listen to and view audio-visual recordings while being directed to visualize themselves being immersed in that scene or scenario. There are no published studies on the use of GI as a simple stress coping intervention or tracking stress in a systematic manner as a trigger for SCD pain.