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Corinna L. Schultz, MD: Improving Sickle Cell Trait Documentation in Infancy
Schultz discussed the SCtalk trial and its findings at ASH 2024.
Sickle cell trait (SCT) documentation should be improved and can be by implementing simple strategies in the SCtalk toolkit for primary care providers (PCPs), including an electronic health record (EHR) prompt, a 20-minute educational video, and reference materials.
Findings from a randomized trial of the toolkit rollout were presented by Corinna L. Schultz, MD, hematology/oncology, Nemours Childrens’ Health, at the 66th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, held December 7-10, 2024, in San Diego, California.
“[People] could be very well intentioned in meaning to talk about it later, but unless it gets written down, often that information gets lost and forgotten over time. And so our goal was to ensure that every child who has SCT that's found on newborn screen has it written down in the EHR, so that it provides a little bit of insurance that maybe it could get talked about again over time, but also that it's discussed not just in infancy, but also as that child grows up,” Schultz told HCPLive® during the meeting.
Schultz and colleagues found that the 3 implementation strategies were acceptable to PCPs, feasible for use, and increased self-reported practices of documentation and disclosure of SCT within infancy, although PCP levels of confidence to discuss SCT with family or adolescents or to discuss inheritance or reproductive options did not significantly increase, prompting a need for further research.
In this clip, Schultz discussed the importance of documenting SCT, information on which is often forgotten by the time children grow up. She discussed the SCtalk study, its findings, and further research and implementation of the toolkit she would like to see.
