ITP Has A Significant Impact on Quality of Life
There is a high symptom burden and negative impact on emotional well-being and ability to work among patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), according to study results presented at the 23rd Congress of the European Hematology Association in Stockholm, Sweden.
Previous research has shown fatigue as a key morbidity in patients with thrombocytopenia, but there is limited information on the full impact of ITP on patient’s quality of life.
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The researchers conducted a cross-sectional survey of 260 ITP patients in 14 countries. The patients completed a 30-minute online survey detailing their quality of live, treatment, and management of the condition. The mean length of time since ITP diagnosis was 12 years. A 7-point Likert scale was used to rank current health state, and 67% of patients reported a score of 5 or less, while 11% reported a score of 3 or less.
Of the 260 patients, 15% felt there had been a delay in their ITP diagnosis and 65% had wanted more support during diagnosis. The most frequently reported symptoms and time of diagnosis were bruising (73%), fatigue (68%), and petechiae (65%). At the time of survey completion, the most common symptoms were fatigue (59%), bruising (31%) and petechiae (27%).
Overall, 44% of patients reported that ITP impacted their energy levels more than half of the time, 28% said ITP had a negative impact on capacity to exercise more than half of the time, and 21% reported that ITP impacted the undertaking of daily tasks more than half of the time. Thirty-six percent of patients reported that ITP had a high impact on emotional well-being and work.
“This interim data analysis demonstrates the multifaceted burden of ITP on patients’ lives,” the researchers concluded. “These results highlight a need to further explore and define overall disease burden of ITP and to consider how these findings should affect the management of ITP in these patients.”
—Michael Potts
Reference:
The burden of disease and impact of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) on patient quality of life and productivity: results from the ITP world impact survey (I-WISh) [presented at 23rd Congress of the European Hematology Association]. Stockholm, Sweden. June 15, 2018.