Adherence to a reproductive health intervention for young adults with sickle cell.

BACKGROUND: The CHOICES intervention is tailored specifically for young adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) or sickle cell trait (SCT). The face-to-face (F2F) delivery format is feasible with efficacy for improving knowledge about reproductive health for those with SCD or SCT.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to compare the participant adherence to a remote online CHOICES intervention study (N = 107) and a F2F CHOICES intervention study (N = 234).

METHODOLOGY: In both studies, participants with SCD or SCT were randomized into experimental or usual care control groups. Descriptive statistics were collected for all participants by group in both studies. Adherence was measured by retention at each data collection time point. Independent t-tests were conducted to compare mean participant adherence of the F2F and online studies postbaseline (6, 12, 18, and 24 months).

RESULTS: There was a significant difference in mean adherence postbaseline between the studies (p = .005). The results suggest that more research is necessary for proper online participant retention.

CONCLUSION: Advance practice nurses that are well informed on CHOICES can transmit the availability of this evidence-based intervention to this special population. Special referral for the CHOICES intervention, which is tailored specifically for young adults with SCD or SCT, may increase adherence to the intervention if it comes from trusted health care providers.

IMPLICATIONS: Nurse practitioners are educators in primary and acute care settings. Encounters with reproductive age populations with SCD or SCT can occur in both settings.