Evaluation of quality of life in children and adolescents with thalassemia major

Thalassemia is one of the most common genetic diseases that affect all aspects of quality of life (QOL). The present study was conducted to evaluate the QOL of children and adolescents with thalassemia major.

This descriptive-analytical-cohort study was performed on patients with thalassemia major referred to Ali Asghar Hospital in Zahedan in 2017-2018. A 26-item World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-Bref) was used to assess patients' QOL. The questionnaire of this study had two major components; 1- General information like age, sex, education, numbers of transfusions and heart disease and 2- Questions regarding physical and mental health. The result of the questionnaire yielded a score depending on the answers provided by the patients. Data were analyzed using the independent t-test and ANOVA.

Out of the 250 participants in the study, 123 and 127 ones were male and female, respectively. The mean QOL score was 262.735±13.785. There was no significant difference between boys and girls in the QOL score. But there was a significant difference in the QOL based on the education (P=0.000), heart disease (P=0.000) and number of blood transfusions (P=0.001).

This study revealed that patients with thalassemia major required special attention to various aspects of their lives as their lower QOL negatively impacted them. Providing more and better medical and rehabilitation services to this group seems to be necessary.