Life experiences of children with sickle cell anemia: Qualitative research

Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA), which is one of the hereditary blood diseases, diagnosis, treatment and nursing care are very important because it is chronic and has crises. Screening for sickle cell anemia, genetic counseling trainings and most importantly, management of symptoms and crisis period are very important. The study was conducted to examine the life experiences of children with sickle cell anemia using qualitative analysis method. It was conducted with children who received treatment in the Pediatric Hematology Service of Mersin University Oncology Hospital between August 2024 and May 2025. Seventeen children were included in the study. The interviews with the children were conducted face-to-face in the Playroom of the Pediatric Hematology Service of Mersin University Oncology Hospital by audio recording. The conversation during the interview was recorded and the recordings were transcribed after the interview. In the light of the data obtained from the interviews of the children included in the study, 7 themes and 57 codes were obtained as 'feelings related to OHA', 'thoughts related to OHA', 'painful crisis', 'treatment and care process', 'family relationship', 'social life' and 'school life'.In this study, emotional and social problems of children with OHA were identified more than the physical difficulties caused by painful crisis and disease-related complications.It is recommended that the social network should be strengthened to provide leadership in making the voices of these lost children heard and nursing interventions should be organized in line with the principles of family-centered care.