Quality of Life in Malaysian Children with Thalassaemia

Sample size: 313 publication 10 minutes Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Ismail Adriana, Campbell Michael J, Ibrahim Hishamshah Mohd, Jones Georgina L

Primary Institution: Institute of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Sheffield

Do children with thalassaemia have a lower quality of life compared to healthy controls?

Thalassaemia negatively impacts physical, emotional, social, and school functioning in affected children compared to their healthy peers.

Thalassaemia patients reported significantly lower quality of life in physical, social, and school functioning compared to healthy controls.
The emotional functioning scores were not significantly different between thalassaemia patients and healthy controls.
Patients had a response rate of 81.3%, while healthy controls had a 100% response rate.

Kids with thalassaemia feel worse than healthy kids because their illness makes it hard for them to play and go to school.

Cross-sectional study using the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales to assess quality of life in thalassaemia patients and healthy controls.

Potential selection bias due to the study being conducted in one hospital.

The study was conducted at a single hospital, which may not represent all thalassaemia patients in Malaysia.

78 thalassaemia patients aged 5-18 years and 235 healthy controls aged 7-18 years, with a majority being Malay.

<0.001

(-19.75 to -11.63)

p<0.05

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