Table 4.

Providers-related barriers to the utilization of hydroxyurea

Variables	Frequency	Percentage
Lack of expertise in hydroxyurea use	86	65.2
Lack of clinical guidelines on hydroxyurea use	74	56.1
Fear of side effects	49	37.1
Doubt about the effectiveness of hydroxyurea	29	22.0
Patient did not meet the criteria for initiating the treatment	25	18.9
Perception of patients refusal	23	17.4
Fear of poor adherence to medication by the patients	16	12.1
Not usually comfortable treating SCD patients	8	6.1
Cost of medication and monitoring of treatment	5	3.8

NB – There were multiple responses

SCD – Sickle cell disease