Age and prevalence of sickle-cell trait in a large ambulatory population.
We performed hemoglobin electrophoresis in 30,400 apparently healthy black individuals in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area, who were participating in a community based sickle-cell screening program during the period 1978-1985. The overall prevalence of sickle-cell trait was 6.7%. The frequency of sickle-cell trait in various age groups, which included young children, adults, and individuals over 65 years of age, ranged from 6.4 to 7.4%. There were no statistically significant differences in the prevalence of sickle-cell trait among the various age groups, nor did we detect a significant trend for increasing or decreasing sickle cell frequency with advancing age (P = 0.418). Thus, in this population sickle-cell trait appears to have no effect on longevity. If the various complications of sickle-cell trait reported in the literature are not fortuitous, their frequency and/or severity must be too low to affect prevalence figures.
Castro
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Center for Sickle Cell Disease, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C. 20059.
Rana
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Bang
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Scott
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000453:epidemiology*; D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004219:District of Columbia; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012805:Sickle Cell Trait / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality; D001741:Black or African American