Trends in hospital admissions for sickle cell disease in England, 2001/02-2009/10.
BACKGROUND
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a rising cause of mortality and morbidity in England and consequently an important policy issue for the National Health Service. There has been no previous study that has examined SCD admission rates in England.


METHODS
Data from Hospital Episode Statistics were analysed for all hospital episodes (2001/10) in England with a primary diagnosis of sickle cell anaemia with crisis (D57.0) or without crisis (D57.1). Secondary and tertiary diagnoses were examined among those patients admitted with either of these codes as their primary diagnosis.


RESULTS
The overall SCD admission rate per 100 000 has risen from 21.2 in 2001/02 to 33.5 in 2009/10, a rise of over 50%. London accounts for 74.9% of all SCD admissions in England. 57.9% of patients admitted are discharged within 24 h. The largest rise in admission rates was seen among males aged 40-49 years where admission rates per 100 000 increased from 7.6 to 26.8 over the study period.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data show that SCD admissions are rising in England, particularly in London. Over half of patients admitted with SCD were discharged within 24 h, suggesting that some of these admissions could be prevented through better ambulatory care of patients.
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London W6 8RP, UK. g.aljuburi07@imperial.ac.uk
Ghida
G
Aljuburi
Anthony A
AA
Laverty
Stuart A
SA
Green
Karen J
KJ
Phekoo
Ricky
R
Banarsee
N V Ogo
NV
Okoye
Derek
D
Bell
Azeem
A
Majeed
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult