Research Article
QualityofLifeandRelatedParaclinicalFactorsinIranian
Patients with Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia
Mehran Khodashenas,
1
ParhamMardi ,
1
Nooshin Taherzadeh-Ghahfarokhi,
1
Bahareh Tavakoli-Far,
2,3
Mahnaz Jamee,
1
andNiloofarGhodrati
4
1
Student Research Committee, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
2
Dietary Supplements and Probiotic Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
3
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
4
Hematologist-Oncologist,FacultyMember,DepartmentofInternalMedicine,AlborzUniversityofMedicalSciences,Karaj,Iran
Correspondence should be addressed to Niloofar Ghodrati; niloofar.ghodrati1@gmail.com
Received 29 May 2021; Accepted 29 July 2021; Published 18 August 2021
Academic Editor: Amir Radfar
Copyright © 2021 Mehran Khodashenas et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Background. alassemia is one of the most common genetic hematologic disorders in the world. Despite outstanding achievements
in prenatal diagnosis and a decrease in the number of patients, thalassemia is still a significant issue in most parts of the world,
especially in the Mediterranean countries. Understanding the factors associated with this condition is crucial to help clinicians and
policymakers provides social and medical support for patients to facilitate their lives. is study aims to appraise the quality of life
(QoL) and its related paraclinical factors in Iranian transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients. MethodsandMaterials. is study is
a cross-sectional study performed in the thalassemia clinic of Imam-Ali Hospital, Karaj, Iran. e demographic, clinical, and
laboratory data of 100 patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia were recorded. e patients’ QoL was measured by the World
Health Organization Quality of Life Instruments Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) version questionnaire. e results were analyzed using
SPSS software. Results. is study demonstrated that all four features of life are influenced in transfusion-dependent thalassemia
patients. Also, higher educational status and lower serum ferritin levels were associated with better scores in assessing the QoL. On
the other hand, an elevated level of AST (aspartate transaminase), ALT (alanine transaminase), and FBS (fasting blood sugar) are
associated with lower scores. Conclusion. All features of QoL are correlated to the patients’ laboratory findings. Our data suggest that
managing patients’ laboratory indices is attributed to their higher QoL. We also suggest regular screening of patients’ QoL to manage
disease complications more efficiently.
1.Introduction
alassemia is an inherited blood disorder and one of the
most common monogenic diseases in the world. It has been
a critical health issue in the Mediterranean region, Middle
East, Southeast Asia, and India [1, 2]. Overall, approximately
200 million people are affected globally [3]. Recent studies
suggest that despite improvements in prenatal diagnosis,
between 300,000 and 400,000 neonates are born with
thalassemia every year, most of them in developing countries
[4–7]. In Iran, the prevalence of thalassemia ranges from 1%
to 10% in various parts of the country [1, 8]. It should be
noted that about two million thalassemia carriers are reg-
istered in the country, making the disease a significant public
health issue [9, 10]. alassemia is more prevalent in the
northern and southern parts of the country [10, 11].
ere are four types of thalassemia: α, β, c, and δ
thalassemia. ß-alassemia is a chronic autosomal recessive
disorder in which ß-globin chain synthesis is decreased or
absent. ere are about 200 mutations associated with the
thalassemia phenotype [12, 13]. In ß-thalassemia minor, the
synthesis of hemoglobin A (α2, β2) decreases due to a single
mutation in ß-gene, leading to red blood cell (RBC) de-
struction. While some ß-thalassemia patients are usually
Hindawi
Journal of Environmental and Public Health
Volume 2021, Article ID 2849163, 6 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/2849163