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Self‐reported health‐related quality of life in adults with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura
Author(s) -
McMillan Robert,
Bussel James B.,
George James N.,
Lalla Deepa,
Nichol Janet L.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
american journal of hematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1096-8652
pISSN - 0361-8609
DOI - 10.1002/ajh.20992
Subject(s) - medicine , thrombocytopenic purpura , quality of life (healthcare) , diabetes mellitus , population , pediatrics , hematology , arthritis , platelet , nursing , environmental health , endocrinology
Adult chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a disorder manifested by varying degrees of purpura and mucosal bleeding, rarely including intracranial hemorrhage. Therapy is aimed at increasing the patient's platelet count to safe levels and includes a wide variety of treatments. While the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of chronic ITP have been extensively discussed, the effect of ITP and its treatment on patient quality of life has not been evaluated in adults. In this study, the Short‐Form 36 questionnaire was used to evaluate the health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) of 73 adult ITP patients compared with that of the general U.S. population and of patients with six other relatively common chronic disorders. This study shows that the HRQOL of adult patients with ITP is significantly worse than that of the general U.S. population. It is also worse than that of patients with hypertension, arthritis, or cancer; similar to that of patients with diabetes; but better than that of patients with congestive heart failure or a missing or paralyzed limb. Future studies need to address the effects of treatment not only on the platelet count and bleeding but also on HRQOL. Am. J. Hematol., 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.