Health-related quality of life among patients with sickle cell disease in the hereditary blood disease center in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, there is a lack of studies for the quality of life (QoL) of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. The aim of this study was to assess patient-related QoL of patients with SCD for patients in the hereditary blood disease center in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study designed to measure the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with SCD for patients in the hereditary blood disease center in Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia between January and April 2023. The HRQoL of the patients was determined using the Medical Outcome Study 20-item Short-Form Health Survey questionnaire, developed by Research and Development Health, a universally accepted evaluation tool for assessing HRQoL of many chronic diseases. A total of 305 patients were involved in this study. The majority of the patients (80.0%) rated their health as being good to excellent. The most commonly reported daily activities that was limited to high degree were vigorous activities (36.7%). More than half of the participating patients reported that their daily activities were limited due to their physical health such as accomplishing less than they would like to do. The majority of the patients (75%) reported that their physical health or emotional problems impacted their social activities to different degrees. The majority of the patients (83%) reported that they have suffered from bodily pain and 75% reported that their pain interfered with their normal work. Almost 90% of the patients reported that their health impacted their energy and fatigue. Overall, patients QoL score ranged between 23.9% and 62.3%; which reflect a poor to moderate QoL. The lowest QoL score was reported for role limitations due to emotional problems (23.9%). The highest QoL score was reported for pain (62.3%). Sickle cell disease affects patients QoL to high degree among different aspects of their life. Emotional problems are the most common issues that impact SCDs patients QoL. Further studies are warranted to develop new interventions to enhance patients QoL and improve their outcomes.