The Fear Avoidance Scale of the Sickler

Background: Fear, one of the psychosocial parameters, has received much attention lately. Based on previous work done elsewhere in other disease states, we sought to investigate the fear – avoidance model, biofeedback and family intervention in sickle cell patients. Method: Out of the 852 interested participants (622 men and 230 women) that started the study, only 323 subjects fully completed the study. Two hundred and forty – two (242) subjects were diagnosed with Sickle Cell disease while 81 were not. Subjects were recruited consecutively at the outpatient unit after ethical approval and informed consent. Questionnaires were administered to subjects. One aspect of which contained the fear avoidance model of pain also called the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK) was assessed in the subjects. New discoveries for adaptation during the rainy season were also noted as a form of biofeedback and family intervention. Results: Coefficient Alpha for the 8 items TSK scale was 0.88 and unidimensional. TSK scores between SCD males with painful episodes was statistically significant. Even though HbSS individuals scored relatively higher on the TSK scale, painful episodes were statistically not significant between groups, perhaps, due to the biofeedback and family intervention strategy. Conclusion: In sickle cell anemia, musculoskeletal pain was more persistent than in HbSC disease and the biofeedback intervention was highly needful in such circumstance.