Hematology AdvisorUse of Electronic Health Record Data Helps Predict Survival Following Disease-Modifying Therapy in SCA

The research also showed that patients receiving hydroxyurea had a much lower risk of dying than those not getting any disease-modifying therapy.

Using stored electronic health record (EHR) data can efficiently predict survival rates across various disease-modifying treatments for children and adults with sickle cell anemia (SCA).

HCN Medical Memo
For physicians treating SCA patients, this study underlines the utility of EHR data in estimating survival outcomes across different treatment modalities. It suggests that disease-modifying treatments like hydroxyurea can significantly lower mortality rates. Therefore, harnessing EHR data can help refine treatment strategies and patient monitoring over time.

Key Points:

• Researchers used EHR data spanning January 1, 2004, to April 30, 2021, from a university medical center clinical data warehouse to identify a cohort of 419 patients with SCA.
• The median age of the patients was 10.2 years and median follow-up duration was 7.4 years, with 47 recorded deaths.
• Kaplan-Meier curves showed the highest survival rates among patients treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplants, followed by regular blood transfusions and hydroxyurea therapy.
• Hydroxyurea treatment resulted in a significantly lower hazard of mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.38; P =.016) compared to no treatment.

Additional Points:

• For children, 98% remained alive at 18 years of age, with 34.3% of those followed into adulthood. For adults, the median age of survival was 49.3 years.
• Limitations included lack of adherence confirmation to hydroxyurea, prescriptions from outside centers not accounted for, and fragmentation of care.

The study pulled clinical information from more than 17 years involving multiple hospitals, making it one of the most comprehensive of its kind in the SCA field.

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