Impact of an Aerobic Exercise Training Course on Transfusion Blood Volume in Patients with β-Thalassemia major

Blood transfusion in patients with beta-thalassemia major can be considered as one of the major individual and social problems of this disease. This study is aimed to evaluate the effect of an aerobic exercise course on transfusion blood volume of patients with β-thalassemia major.

The present study was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test design with a control group in 2020-2021 in Zahedan. The subjects of the present study (24 patients with thalassemia major aged 15 to 35 years) were randomized by variable block method and were divided into two groups of exercise (n= 14) and control (n= 10). Participants in exercise group started regular walking for 8 weeks. Paired t- test statistical method was applied to analyse the data within the groups while analyse of covariance (ANCOVA) method was utilized to compare the groups, p< 0.05.

Intra-group comparisons revealed the reduction of transfusion blood volume following 8 weeks of aerobic exercise in both exercise (2421.43 ± 462.73 mL, p = 0.001) and control (2130.0 ± 330.15 mL, p = 0.039) groups, when compared to the pre-study exercise. Results of inter-group comparisons demonstrated no significant difference in two studied groups (p = 0.221), although the reduction of transfusion blood volume in exercise group was more evident than the control group.

According to the results, it is concluded that doing aerobic exercise training accompanied with the treatment methods utilized for thalassemia major patients reduced their need for blood transfusions, when exercise duration is sufficiently long.