Participant characteristics
Fifteen male (41%) and twenty-two female adolescents were included in
the study. Participant characteristics are shown in Table 1 .
The participant mean (± SD) age and BA were 14.6 ± 3.2 and 14.3 ± 3.4
years, respectively. Female participants had more advanced median
(Q1-Q3) Tanner stage compared to males (4 [4-5] vs. 2 [1-4], p =
0.004). The two groups had no differences in mean z-scores for height (p
= 0.21) and BMI (p = 0.22). Thirty-two (86%) out of 37 participants had
Hb H-CS, and 5 participants had Hb H-Paksé. Two male and four female
participants had received prednisolone therapy for autoimmune hemolytic
anemia. Participants received their first blood transfusion at the age
of 4 (1-8) years. Over one year period prior to the study, 31 (84%)
participants received blood transfusion every 4-6 weeks, 4 (11%)
participants received every 8-12 weeks, and 2 (5%) participants did not
receive any. Although female had lower average pre-transfusion Hb than
male participants (8.4 ± 0.7 vs. 9.4 ± 1.0 g/dL, p = 0.002), the two
groups had no differences in blood transfusion interval (p = 0.59),
transfused blood volume (p = 0.46), average serum ferritin (p = 0.98)
and liver iron concentrations (p = 0.18). The proportion of participants
using iron chelation therapy as well as type of chelators used were not
different between genders (p=0.23).