Health-Related Quality of Life, Treatment Satisfaction, Adherence and Persistence in β-Thalassemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome Patients with Iron Overload Receiving Deferasirox: Results from the EPIC Clinical Trial
Table 1
Demographic and clinical characteristics of β-thalassemia and MDS patients.
-thalassemia ()
MDS ()
Mean age (SD)
26 (11.5)
68 (10.3)
Males, n (%)
127 (46.4)
96 (57.1)
Age groups, n (%)
<6 yrs
17 (6.2)
0 (0)
6 to <12 yrs
25 (9.1)
0 (0)
12 to <16 yrs
15 (5.5)
0 (0)
16 to <50 yrs
213 (77.7)
4 (2.4)
50 to <65 yrs
4 (1.5)
55 (32.7)
≥65 yrs
0 (0)
109 (64.9)
Prior chelation therapy, n (%)
No
4 (1.5)
81 (48.2)
Yes
270 (98.5)
87 (51.8)
Prior chelation therapy, n (%)
None
4 (1.5)
81 (48.2)
DFO only
184 (66.4)
63 (37.5)
Deferiprone only
2 (0.7)
9 (5.4)
DFO and deferiprone*
84 (30.3)
14 (8.3)
Other ICT
3 (1.1)
1 (0.6)
*Patients may have received both DFO and deferiprone as prior chelation therapies, but these may not have been in combination.