Health - related quality of life in pediatric patients with Thalassemia and some related factors at Saint Paul General Hospital in 2019 - 2020

Abstract

A cross - sectional descriptive study was performed on 125 Thalassemia children diagnosed and treated at Saint Paul General Hospital from September 2019 to September 2020 to assess health quality of life and some related factors in pediatric with Thalassemia. The results showed that the average overall health quality of life score of pediatric patients according to the PedsQL 4.0 scale was 73.0 ± 16.04. The PedsQL 4.0 of Thalassemia children was lower than that of healthy children, in which the PedsQL 4.0 in the physical dimension had the lowest score (67.8 ± 16.8), followed by the learning field (72.8 ± 17.8). Some related factors include pretransfusion hemoglobin levels lower than 7.5g/ dl, serum iron levels higher than 2500ng/ml, hepatitis C and hypersplenism. There is no relationship between gender, age at first blood transfusion and PedsQL 4.0. To improve the quality of life in children with Thalassemia requires the attention of families, schools, health and social workers, especially in the physical and school fields. It is necessary to maintain the pre - transfusion Hb concentration higher than 7.5g/dl, regular chelation to keep the iron concentration less than 1000ng/ml, and carefully screen the blood bags to avoid
hepatitis C complications to help children with thalassemia.