Mortality and morbidity in Jamaican adults with sickle-cell trait and with normal haemoglobin followed up for twelve years.

An epidemiological survey of adults aged 35--64 years living in a rural area of Jamaica was started in 1962--63 and continued until 1975. Information was available on 856 subjects with AA and 119 subjects with AS haemoglobin genotypes. The mortality-rates over 12 or 13 years and the number of clinic attendances in 10 years did not differ significantly between subjects with AA and those with AS haemoglobin. The patterns of disease as well as the life expectancy of the two groups appeared to be the same.