Clinical assessment of quality of life of the patients with chronic blood transfusion and chelation therapy

Background: The patient with hemoglobinopathy like thalassemia major (TM), bone marrow dysfunction, and sickle cell disease are requiring chronic blood transfusion for their life time to survive. Among these, TM is one of the most common hemoglobinopathy worldwide. Objective: This study is done to assess the quality of life (QOL) of the patients with chronic blood transfusion and chelation therapy. Materials and Methods: The QOL scores were obtained through the selfadministered SF-36 questionnaire. The study subjects were asked to answer the SF-36 questionnaire once every 3 months. Results: After 6 months, the SF 36 general health mean score was 63.58 ± 12.98 (P < 0.05). The highest mean score was 69.37 ± 11.61. The mean difference after the final reviews was statistically significant. Conclusion: The preponderance of scores used to assess QOL suggests that there is a direct and independent effect on QOL when treated with transfusion and iron-chelation therapy.