ABSTRACT
Objective: To compare quality of life of children with thalassemia major who haveundergone stem cell transplantation with those on regular transfusion. Methods: Thestudy included 40 children who underwent transplantation and 40 children and 20 adults onregular transfusion and iron chelation therapy. The quality of life assessment was doneusing the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 Generic Core Scale. Results: The meantotal summary score, psychosocial summary score and physical score was 92, 91 and92.8, respectively in transplant group and 83, 82.7 and 83.6, respectively in children intransfusion group. The adult group on transfusion showed overall poorer scores of 74.9, 76and 73.9, respectively. The average scores in all domains were significantly (P<0.05) lowerand drop steeply in second decade in transfusion group. Conclusion: Allogeneic stem celltransplantation improves quality of life in thalassemia major.