Factors Related to the Quality of Life in Children with Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia

Abstract

Objective: Increased survival rate of patients with Transfusion-dependent Thalassemia (TDT) should be in line with their good quality of life (QoL). The study aimed to analyze the relationship between sociodemographic factors and clinical characteristics with the QoL of children with TDT. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Hasan Sadikin General Hospital from December 2022 to February 2023. A total of 158 eligible subjects aged 5–18 years with TDT were included in the analysis. QoL assessment was performed using child self-report and parent-proxy report questionnaires, along with physical examination findings. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to analyze the data. Results: A total of 158 subjects who met the research criteria were included in the analysis. Of 58.9% of children with TDT had a low adherence rate to iron chelating therapy (ICT). School function had the lowest score in QoL based on child-self report and parent proxy. Gender (p<0,05) and adherence to ICT (p<0,05) were significantly associated with lower quality of life. Conclusion: Female and adherence to ICT were predictors of children with TDT’s QoL.

Keywords:

• Adherence
• children
• PedsQL
• quality of life
• transfusion dependent thalassemia

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the staff of the Hematology Oncology Clinic Hasan Sadikin Hospital involved in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, SS. The data are not publicly available due to the privacy of research participants.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.