The Impact of Chelation Compliance in Health Outcome and Health-Related
Quality of Life in Thalassaemia Patients: A Systematic Review
Abstract
Understanding the consequences of poor chelation compliance is crucial
given the enormous burden of post-transfusional iron overload
complications. We systematically reviewed iron-chelation therapy (ICT)
compliance, and the relationship between compliance with health outcome
and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in thalassaemia patients.
Several reviewers performed systematic search strategy of literature
through PubMed, Scopus, and EBSCOhost. The preferred reporting items of
systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed.
Of 4917 studies, 20 publications were included. The ICT compliance rate
ranges from 20.93% to 75.3%. It also varied per agent, ranging from
48.84-85.1% for desferioxamine, 87.2-92.2% for deferiprone and
90-100% for deferasirox. Majority of studies (N=10/11, 90.91%)
demonstrated significantly negative correlation between compliance and
serum ferritin, while numerous studies revealed poor ICT compliance
linked with increased risk of liver disease (N=4/7, 57.14%) and cardiac
disease (N=6/8, 75%), endocrinologic morbidity (N=4/5, 90%), and lower
HRQoL (N=4/6, 66.67%). Inadequate compliance with ICT therapy is
common. Higher compliance is correlated with the lower serum ferritin,
lower risk of complications, and higher HRQoL. These findings should be
interpreted with caution given the few numbers of evidence.