Assessment of Quality of Life among Beta-Thalassemia Major Patients Attending the Hematology Outpatient Clinics at Cairo University Hospital

Abstract

AIM: This paper aimed at assessing the quality of life (QoL) among beta (β)-thalassemia major patients using the short-form-36questionnaire (SF-36) and determining the factors associated with it.
 METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among β-thalassemia major patients who were attending the hematology outpatient clinic at Cairo University Hospital using the consecutive sampling technique. Data were collected between October 2016 and March 2017. The QoL was assessed for patients aged ≥17 years. During the study period, a total number of 112 patients were included for participation.
 RESULTS: The mean age of the studied group was 18.32 ± 1.33 years. Most of the included patients (93.63%) had 1 monthly blood transfusion. The mean total score of SF-36 was 44.90 ± 7.54. Among the QoL domains of the studied patients, the “general health perception” domain was the most affected one with a mean score of (add the value of the score here), while the “vitality” domain was the least affected one. No statistically significant difference was reported between males and females regarding different QoL domains except for the “vitality” domain which mean score was significantly higher in males compared to females (p = 0.05). The age at onset of the disease and at first blood transfusion was the most documented factors to be positively correlated with the QoL among the studied patients.
 CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the QoL in thalassemia major patients is compromised. QoL assessment should be performed for all thalassemia patients to determine and implement the necessary interventions that focus on the affected domains.

Effect of Self -Determination Theory Based Intervention on Quality of Life Among School Age Children with Thalassemia

“…They concluded that children with thalassemia had a poor QOL on pretest, and conditions like high hemoglobin level and low iron overload were associated with improved QOL scores. In addition, this result agreed with Hamdy et al, (2021) in their study about "Assessment of Quality of Life among Beta-Thalassemia Major Patients Attending the Hematology Outpatient Clinics at Cairo University Hospital". They reported that QoL in thalassemia major patients is compromised.…”

Factors Related to Quality of Life Among Children With Thalassemia Major: A Literature Review

“…The age during the first transfusion was significantly correlated with physical function; the older the children received the first transfusion, the better the physical function. Hamdy et al (2021) found similar results, in which the age when received the first transfusion was significantly correlated with children's quality of life score. Sazlina et al (2015) proved that children who received their first transfusion before four years old had a lower quality of life total score than those who received their first transfusion after four years old.…”

Gender Disparities in Psychological Disturbances and Quality of Life Among Adolescent and Adult Patients with Thalassemia: A Review

“…Females tend to report lower health-related QoL scores than males. 30 , 34 , 38 , 42 In addition, females may be more willing to discuss symptoms and reporting of health-related QoL than males. 26 Females without social support who are exposed to life events are more vulnerable than males.…”

“…Twelve out of sixteen studies investigated gender differences concerning QoL. [27][28][29][30][31]34,[36][37][38][39][40]42 Four studies found that women had reduced QoL in terms of lower satisfaction with physical health, psychological health, and social relationships, 34 lower vitality domain, 38 bodily pain, and physical health summaries, 42 and faced more problems on daily activity than males. 30 Contrary to those results, two studies found that females had better QoL 27 and significantly higher scores in the overall perception of the health domain.…”