Hemophilia and Obesity: Evaluating Prophylactic Dosing and Treatment Outcomes

Objective: Advancements in the treatment of hemophilia have extended life expectancy of the patients, while leading to the emergence of new comorbidities, including obesity, among them.This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of obesity and overweight in patients with hemophilia while examining their associations with the clinical characteristics of the disease.Method: Hemophilia patients were included in this single-center cross-sectional study.To assess joint health and functionality, the Functional Independence Score in Hemophilia and the Hemophilia Joint Health Score (HJHS) were applied.Patients were grouped according to their body mass indexes (BMIs).Differences in the number of bleeding episodes, prophylactic doses, and joint scores among BMI groups were evaluated.Results: A total of 35 hemophilia patients aged between 4 and 20 years were included in the study.Based on their BMIs, 8 patients (22.9%) were obese, and 11 patients (31.4%) were obese/overweight.Patients in the obese/ overweight group were significantly younger than those in the other group.No significant difference was found between the groups in terms of annual bleeding episodes and HJHS.Interestingly, although obese/overweight patients received significantly lower prophylaxis doses per kilogram of body weight, did not show any difference in clinical scores. Conclusions:Our findings suggest that dose adjustments based on ideal body weight may lead to similar treatment outcomes.Additionally, younger age and parental protective behaviors may contribute to occurrence of fewer bleeding episodes in obese/overweight patients.