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Prophylaxis and adherence to prophylaxis are increasingly recognized as important factors for the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of haemophilia patients. This study aims to assess treatment practices over time, HRQOL and adherence among severe haemophilia A patients in the US. Severe haemophilia A patients or their caregivers participated in a 2009 cross-sectional survey. HRQOL was measured using either PEDS-QL or SF-12; adherence was measured using the VERITAS-Pro. Student t-tests evaluated differences between children vs. adults and self-infusion status. A total of 117 respondents participated in the survey, capturing data for 64 adults (mean age = 37.9 years) and 53 children (mean age = 10.5 years). Although 96% of paediatric patients were currently receiving prophylaxis, only 32 (50%) adults reported receiving prophylaxis at some point in their life. Adults who have always been on prophylaxis reported better physical functioning and physical HRQOL (both P < 0.05) than adults who had not. The paediatric group reported better adherence compared to the adult group on the total scale (38 vs. 45.8, P < 0.05). Children <12 years had higher adherence than adolescents 12-18 years old (35.5 vs. 40.8; P < 0.05). Paediatric patients infused by family members showed better adherence than paediatric self-infusers (P < 0.05). This study showed different treatment patterns between paediatric and adult patients and how the patterns impacted HRQOL. It also provided the first standardized evaluation of adherence using the VERITAS-Pro in a US national sample. This study enhances understanding of treatment practices and adherence for the US haemophilia population and may offer insight into where adherence can be improved.

With the adoption of these research priorities, we anticipate that the theories and processes of response shift will be better understood, current methods to analyze this phenomenon will be improved while new ones may also be developed, and the clinical importance and impact of response shift in measuring changes in health-related quality of life (HRQL) will be determined.

Contrary to findings of observational studies, the results from the majority of prospective trials using validated instruments showed positive trends for improved HRQoL with prophylaxis in adults.