Table 3 Demographic and clinical characteristics of sickle cell children at 12 months of follow-up, before the implementation of sickle cell management recommendations (n = 143)

Age

10 (IQR: 6–15 years)

Age at diagnosis

2 (IQR: 1–5 years)

Before 1 year

53

37

Between 1 and 5 years old

55

39

Between 5 and 10 years old

22

15

After 10 years

13

9

Sex

Female

62

43

Schooling

Yes

99

69

Z-score weight-for-height less than −2SD

Yes

67

47

Mode of the first diagnosis

Clinical

62

43

Electrophoresis of Hb

44

31

Emmel test

37

26

Circumstances of the first diagnosis

Vaso-occlusive crisis

94

66

Anemia

25

18

Screening at the time of inclusion

14

10

Fever

8

6

Jaundice

2

1

Neonatal screening

0

0

Confirmation of diagnosis by isoelectrofocusing

Yes

143

100

Chronic complications

Yes

31

22

Type of complications

Hip arthritis

13

11

Stroke

7

5

Right eye blindness

1

1

Osteomyelitis

4

3

Leg ulcer

3

2

Other

3

2

Reasons for hospitalizations

Vaso-occlusive crisis

45

31

Infectious episodes

34

24

Anemia/blood transfusion

24

17

Other causes

40

28

Presence of hepatomegaly

Yes

86

60

Presence of jaundice

Yes

126

88

Presence of splenomegaly

Yes

98

69

Spleen measurement (according to Hackett’s grade)

H0

45

31

H1

16

11

H2

34

24

H3

24

17

H4

15

10

H5

9

6