Knowledge, Confidence, and Comfort Regarding Sickle Cell Disease Among Medical Students: A Pilot Study in Two Universities
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Development and Distribution
2.2. Statistical Analysis
2.3. Post-Hoc Power Assessment
3. Results
3.1. Demographic Characteristics
3.2. Overall Difference in Knowledge and Confidence
3.3. Self-Reported Knowledge and Confidence Based on Year of Medical School Training
3.4. Self-Reported Knowledge of and Comfort in Treatments of Various Complications
3.5. Caring for Patients with Various Complications
3.6. Examination of Student’s Knowledge Related to SCD
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
SCD | Sickle cell disease |
RBC | Red blood cell |
MUSC | Medical University of South Carolina |
UNC-CH | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
REDCap | Research Electronic Data Capture |
MS | Medical students |
ED | Emergency department |
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Overall | MUSC | UNC | p-Value | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Subjects | 98 | 61 | 37 | |
Year | <0.001 | |||
MS2 | 32 (33%) | 31 (51%) | 1 (3%) | |
MS3 | 33 (34%) | 21 (34%) | 12 (32%) | |
MS4 | 33 (34%) | 9 (15%) | 25 (68%) | |
Gender | 1.000 | |||
Female | 67 (68%) | 42 (69%) | 25 (68%) | |
Male | 29 (30%) | 18 (30%) | 11 (30%) | |
Other | 2 (2%) | 1 (2%) | 1 (3%) | |
Race | 0.695 | |||
White | 57 (61%) | 37 (64%) | 20 (56%) | |
Black/AA | 12 (13%) | 8 (14%) | 4 (11%) | |
White/AA | 2 (2%) | 1 (2%) | 1 (3%) | |
Asian | 22 (23%) | 11 (19%) | 11 (31%) | |
Other | 1 (1%) | 1 (2%) | 0 (0%) | |
Ethnicity | 0.471 | |||
Latinx/Hispanic | 8 (8%) | 4 (7%) | 4 (11%) | |
Non-Hispanic | 90 (92%) | 57 (93%) | 33 (89%) | |
Exposure to SCD | ||||
Training/Workshop = Yes (%) | 23 (24%) | 20 (33%) | 3 (8%) | 0.006 |
Personal Experience = Yes (%) | 5 (5.%) | 4 (7%) | 1 (3%) | 0.647 |
Education Exposure, Readings, Lectures = Yes (%) | 97 (99%) | 60 (98%) | 37 (100%) | 1.000 |
Media = Yes (%) | 34 (35%) | 20 (33%) | 14 (38%) | 0.665 |
Other = Yes (%) | 5 (5%) | 3 (5%) | 2 (5%) | 1.000 |
Career Goal | 0.652 | |||
Primary Care | 48 (50%) | 28 (47%) | 20 (54%) | |
Subspecialty Care | 20 (21%) | 12 (20%) | 8 (22%) | |
Surgical | 29 (30%) | 20 (33%) | 9 (24%) |
Overall: Mean (SD) | p-Value | |
---|---|---|
Knowledge of Treatment | ||
Acute Pain | 3.06 (0.98) | <0.001 |
Acute Stroke | 2.74 (1.07) | |
Pregnancy | 2.16 (0.96) | |
Acute Chest Syndrome | 2.79 (1.06) | |
Outpatient Management | 2.94 (1.00) | |
Comfort in Treatment | ||
Acute Pain | 3.30 (0.91) | <0.001 |
Acute Stroke | 2.86 (1.01) | |
Pregnancy | 2.24 (0.92) | |
Acute Chest Syndrome | 2.86 (0.99) | |
Outpatient Management | 2.84 (0.98) |
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Abrams, C.M.; Witherspoon, D.; Keller, E.; Picca, A.J.; Boucher, M. Knowledge, Confidence, and Comfort Regarding Sickle Cell Disease Among Medical Students: A Pilot Study in Two Universities. Healthcare 2025, 13, 1909. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13151909
Abrams CM, Witherspoon D, Keller E, Picca AJ, Boucher M. Knowledge, Confidence, and Comfort Regarding Sickle Cell Disease Among Medical Students: A Pilot Study in Two Universities. Healthcare. 2025; 13(15):1909. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13151909
Chicago/Turabian StyleAbrams, Christina M., DeAsia Witherspoon, Everette Keller, Andrew J. Picca, and Maria Boucher. 2025. "Knowledge, Confidence, and Comfort Regarding Sickle Cell Disease Among Medical Students: A Pilot Study in Two Universities" Healthcare 13, no. 15: 1909. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13151909
APA StyleAbrams, C. M., Witherspoon, D., Keller, E., Picca, A. J., & Boucher, M. (2025). Knowledge, Confidence, and Comfort Regarding Sickle Cell Disease Among Medical Students: A Pilot Study in Two Universities. Healthcare, 13(15), 1909. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13151909