Perception of sickle cell patients on their diagnosis and management practices at the eighteen sickle cell clinics of Delta State Nigeria: The research protocol v1

The broad objective of this study is to investigate the perception of the sickle cell disease (SCD) patients on their diagnosis and management practices in Delta State Nigeria. This was designed to be clinical observational study at the SCD clinics in Delta State Nigeria. This would include cross sectional and retrospective cohort studies. Data collection would utilize qualitative interview, quantitative questionnaires, and non-experimental design involving retrospective clinical audits of patients’ medical records. 700 randomly selected SCD patients are set to be recruited. Statistical evaluations would involve descriptive a well as qualitative and quantitative analysis. The expected results will hopefully ensure improvement in treatments and alert policy makers in the State and National levels on appropriate SCD care.