WHOQOL-BREF in Measuring Quality of Life Among Sickle Cell Disease Patients with Leg Ulcers

Caroline Conceição da Guarda, Jéssica Eutímio de Carvalho Silva, Gabriela Imbassahy Valentim Melo, Paulo Vinícius Bispo Santana, Juliana Almeida Pacheco, Bruno Terra Correa, Edvan do Carmo Santos, Elisângela Vitória Adorno, Andrea Spier, Teresa Cristina Cardoso Fonseca, Marilda Souza Goncalves and Milena Magalhães Aleluia ()
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Caroline Conceição da Guarda: Laboratório de Patologia Aplicada e Genética, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus 45662-900, BA, Brazil
Jéssica Eutímio de Carvalho Silva: Laboratório de Patologia Aplicada e Genética, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus 45662-900, BA, Brazil
Gabriela Imbassahy Valentim Melo: Laboratório de Patologia Aplicada e Genética, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus 45662-900, BA, Brazil
Paulo Vinícius Bispo Santana: Laboratório de Patologia Aplicada e Genética, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus 45662-900, BA, Brazil
Juliana Almeida Pacheco: Laboratório de Patologia Aplicada e Genética, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus 45662-900, BA, Brazil
Bruno Terra Correa: Laboratório de Patologia Aplicada e Genética, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus 45662-900, BA, Brazil
Edvan do Carmo Santos: Laboratório de Patologia Aplicada e Genética, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus 45662-900, BA, Brazil
Elisângela Vitória Adorno: Laboratório de Pesquisa em Anemias, Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador 40170-115, BA, Brazil
Andrea Spier: Centro de Referência em Doença Falciforme, Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de Itabuna, Itabuna 45600-075, BA, Brazil
Teresa Cristina Cardoso Fonseca: Departamento de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus 45662-900, BA, Brazil
Marilda Souza Goncalves: Laboratório de Investigação em Genética e Hematologia Translacional, Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador 40296-710, BA, Brazil
Milena Magalhães Aleluia: Laboratório de Patologia Aplicada e Genética, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus 45662-900, BA, Brazil

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Sickle cell disease (SCD) presents complex clinical manifestations influenced by genetic, social, environmental, and healthcare access factors as well as socioeconomic status. In this context, sickle cell leg ulcers (SLUs) are a debilitating complication of SCD. We aimed to describe sociodemographic data and evaluate the quality of life (QoL) of SCD patients with and without SLUs. We conducted a cross-sectional study including 13 SCD patients with SLUs and 42 without LUs. Clinical data were obtained by reviewing the medical records, and QoL was assessed with the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Our cohort of patients had a mean age of 34.9 years, with 52.8% male, 52.8% identifying as black, and 41.7% identifying as brown. Most had low income, incomplete education, and high unemployment rates. The social habits and relationships of SCD patients showed varying levels of friendship and family closeness, and the majority of SLU+ patients did not practice sports. We failed to find statistical differences in the WHOQOL-BREF domains between SLU+ and SLU− patients. However, higher income and employment status were associated with improved WHOQOL-BREF domain scores in SCD patients, while vaso-occlusive episodes and female gender were linked to lower scores. Our data reinforce the sociodemographic characteristics of SCD. The physical domain was associated with income, occupation, and vaso-occlusion. The psychological domain was associated with income and occupation. The social relationship domain was associated with occupation and female gender. The environmental domain was associated with vaso-occlusion. The WHOQOL-BREF is a reliable tool to measure QoL in SCD.

Keywords: sickle cell disease; sickle cell leg ulcer; quality of life; WHOQOL-BREF (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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