Abstract Objectives Sickle cell disease (SCD) primarily impacts Black and African Americans who often face social-ecological stressors that can influence biological stress responses. Saliva is a widely used assessment of stress biomarkers; however, few studies have utilized this methodology in SCD. This study aimed to determine the acceptability and feasibility of at-home saliva collection and examine social-ecological and disease-related correlates of participation. Methods A cohort of adolescents and young adults (AYA) with SCD (ages 16 to 25) enrolled in a survey study had the opportunity to opt into a 1-day, 4-sample, at-home saliva collection. Acceptability was assessed via survey, and feasibility was assessed via saliva enrollment rate and factors contributing to enrollment and adherence with the protocol. Investigated social-ecological correlates included demographics, surveys of stressors and health-related skills, and census tract-level neighborhood factors. Disease-related factors were obtained from the electronic medical record. Results Forty-nine AYA (M age=19.6, 40.8% female) completed acceptability surveys with 70% reporting being “Likely” or “Very Likely” to provide saliva samples for research. Three quarters of AYA who completed surveys opted into the saliva collection (75.5%; n = 37). In total, 89.2% (n = 33) collected and returned at least 2 samples to the study team. AYA with higher neighborhood poverty, more hospitalizations in the year prior to enrollment, and lower self-management skills were less likely to opt into saliva collection. Conclusion At-home saliva collection is acceptable and feasible among AYA with SCD, yet there is a need for tailored support strategies to enhance participation in salivary research.
Prussien et al. (Sat,) studied this question.