Effect of Mild Hemophilia A on Quality of Life Using the SF-36.

Using a cross-sectional study design we determined the impact of mild hemophilia A on quality of life. Adult males (n=47) with the same mutation (Val2016ala) were compared to unaffected adult males (n=32). The Short Form-36 (SF-36) and the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) were used to measure quality of life and physical function. Measures included bleeding history, Body Mass Index (BMI), age, and viral status. Using the SF-36, mild hemophilia was found to be statistically and negatively associated with quality of life in both the general health scale (p<0.039) and role emotional (p<0.005) dimensions. Age (>40) was associated with lower quality of life in four of eight dimensions namely, physical functioning (p<0.023), bodily pain (p<0.049), general health scale (p<0.034) and role emotional (p<0.025). A positive viral status of hepatitis (HCV) was found to be negatively associated with bodily pain (p<0.044) in affected males. Finally, those who experienced bleeding episodes (>2 in previous 5 years) were also associated with lower quality of life in social functioning (p<0.02) and the health transition scale (p<0.043). Additionally, a greater than 5-point difference was found in affected males in five out of eight dimensions when compared to the Canadian male population. No significant differences were found between groups from the HAQ scores. Mild hemophilia A, age, bleeding frequency and a positive hepatitis status were found to negatively affect quality of life in our study.