Complications of beta-Thalassemia patients and their related factors in Iran

Purpose: β-thalassemia is one of the most common hereditary diseases in the world. Frequent blood transfusions for symptomatic treatment of the disease minimize the associated complications such as ineffective hematopoises and anemia. However, iron overloading is caused by frequent blood transfusions leading to a variety of other complications such as liver, heart and endocrine disorders as well. The aim of this study was to determine the β-thalassemia associated complications and also other factors associated with the symptomatic treatment of this disease. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Shiraz City, in 2014 enrolling 911 β-thalassemia patients from the southern of Iran. Data was collected from the patient's medical records and the analyses were conducted using bivariate logistic regression. Results: The results showed that the most common complications are endocrine gland disorders (54.9 %), cardiovascular problems (18.6%), and infectious diseases (4.5 %). The risk of the endocrine complications in patients who had been administered to use two or more drugs was nearly 2-foldas compared to the patients who were on one drug. In patients whose serum ferritin levels were high, the risk of infectious diseases was approximately 2-fold when compared to those with low levels of serum ferritin. Based on our analyses, hemoglobin levels, ferritin levels, combined therapy and sex were related to the disease complications. Conclusions: Overall, the results showed that in patients with high blood levels of ferritin, low hemoglobin level and patients who used 2 drugs or more, the risk of complications were significantly higher as compared to the other patients.