Correlation of clinico-hematological and biochemical features with quality of life in hemophilia patients

Hemophilia is an inherited bleeding disorder associated with substantial physical, emotional, and social challenges. This study evaluated the association of disease severity, bleeding frequency, and laboratory parameters with quality of life (QoL) among patients with hemophilia.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with hemophilia attending Cluster 2 Hospitals, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Clinical, haematological, and biochemical data were collected, and QoL was assessed using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Pearson's correlation, one-way analysis of variance, and multivariable logistic regression were performed.

Patients with severe hemophilia demonstrated significantly lower physical functioning (35.58 vs. 55.92; P  = 0.039) and emotional well being scores (48.59 vs. 61.32; P  = 0.031) than those with mild disease. Recurrent joint bleeding (≥2 episodes within 6 months) independently predicted impaired QoL (AOR = 5.2; P  < 0.001), while severe disease was also a significant predictor (AOR = 4.1; P  = 0.001). Age was negatively correlated with QoL ( r  = -0.48; P  < 0.001). Serum ferritin showed a weak negative association ( r  = -0.27; P  = 0.003), whereas INR correlated positively with QoL ( r  = 0.44; P  < 0.001).

Disease severity, recurrent bleeding, and advancing age are major determinants of reduced QoL in hemophilia. These findings support individualized prophylactic and multidisciplinary management strategies to improve patient outcomes.