الفهرس 
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Abstract
Thalassemia clearly affects the patient’s quality of life because of the
condition itself and the effects of treatment. Knowledge of the factors
associated with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among patients
with thalassemia is essential in developing more suitable clinical,
counseling, and social support programs to improve treatment outcomes
of these patients. This observational study included 70 patients with
thalassemia major attending Hematology Clinic in New Children
Hospital, Cairo University, aged 3-18 years, 32 females and 37 males.
They were all on iron chelation therapy for 1 or more year, 25 on
injectable chelation and 45 on oral chelation therapy. Compliance was
significantly higher with oral treatment (P = 0.01). QOL was assessed by
the use of the WHOQOL BREF instrument. The highest scores were for
the social domain (mean=77.33) while the lowest were for the
environmental domain (mean=62.21). Clinical jaundice, mongoloid
features and HCV infection significantly affected scores of different
domains. The lower the ferritin level the higher the score achieved in
different domains. QOL was significantly higher in patients on oral
chelation therapy when compared to those on injectable chelation
(P=0.013). This study concludes that compliance with iron chelation
therapy is closely related to route of administration. Thalassemic children
and adolescents have low quality of life scores especially in the
psychological domain, and these findings would emphasize the need for
psychiatric and rehabilitation programs with aim of increasing motivation
and quality of life.
Key words: thalassemia- iron chelation- quality of life- compliance