title: Health-related quality of life in patients with sickle cell disease in Saudi Arabia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is a lack of research concerning health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Saudi patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), particularly among adult populations. The aim of the current study was to describe the characteristics of SCD patients and their impact on their quality of life (QoL).
  
  
  METHODS
  Six hundred twenty-nine adult SCD patients who attended King Fahad Hospital in Hofuf and King Fahad Central Hospital in Jazan were included in the analysis. Demographic/clinical data were collected and an Arabic version of the Medical Outcomes 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire was used to assess QoL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SCD patients who hold a university degree reported positive impacts on the following domains of SF-36: physical role function, vitality, emotional well being, social function, pain reduction, and general health (P = .002, P = .001, P = .001, P = .003, P = .004, and P = .001, respectively). In general, patients with fever, skin redness, swelling, or history of blood transfusion tended to impair the health status of the SF-36. A multivariate analysis revealed that patients with a university degree tended to report high scores of physical role functions, emotional role function, and vitality. Patients with regular exercise tend to increase vitality, social function, general health, and reduce pain. Unemployment tends to lessen vitality and worsen pain. On average, pain, social function, and physical function scores tended to worsen in patients with swelling or history of blood transfusion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study highlighted that poor education, fever, skin redness, and swelling were negatively associated with specific components of SF-36. SCD patients with a history of blood transfusion found their QoL poorer, whereas regular exercise tended to improve QoL.
authors.affiliation: King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, MC 2350, P.O. Box 22490, Riyadh, 11426, KSA. ahmeda5@vcu.edu.|King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ahmeda5@vcu.edu.
authors.forename: Anwar E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, MC 2350, P.O. Box 22490, Riyadh, 11426, KSA. askaras@ngha.med.sa.|King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. askaras@ngha.med.sa.|King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. askaras@ngha.med.sa.
authors.forename: Ahmed S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Alaskar
authors.affiliation: King Fahad Hospital, Hofuf, Saudi Arabia. Ahmed_suliman_sulimanm@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ahmad M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Al-Suliman
authors.affiliation: King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. jazieha@ngha.med.sa.
authors.forename: Abdul-Rahman
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Jazieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. mcclish@vcu.edu.
authors.forename: Donna K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: McClish
authors.affiliation: King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, MC 2350, P.O. Box 22490, Riyadh, 11426, KSA. malsalamah@gmail.com.|King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. malsalamah@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al Salamah
authors.affiliation: King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. aliyo@ngha.med.sa.
authors.forename: Yosra Z
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: King Fahad Central Hospital, Jazan, Saudi Arabia. dr-hafiz@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Hafiz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Malhan
authors.affiliation: King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. mendozama2@NGHA.MED.SA.
authors.forename: May Anne
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.affiliation: King Fahad Hospital, Hofuf, Saudi Arabia. drabusabah@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Abdulrahman O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Gorashi
authors.affiliation: King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, MC 2350, P.O. Box 22490, Riyadh, 11426, KSA. eltomm@ksau-hs.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Mohamed E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: El-Toum
authors.affiliation: King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. wallo222@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Wala E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: El-Toum
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult