Development Of a Disease Specific Quality Of Life Questionnaire For Patients With Aplastic Anemia and/Or Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (QLQ-AA/…

2013

Abstract Introduction Acquired Aplastic Anemia (AA) and Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH) are ultra-rare diseases with a yearly incidence 2 to 4 per million (AA) and of 1.3 to 2 per million (PNH. While much is known about pathophysiology and treatment of these interrelated diseases, less is known about patients (pts.) psycho-social issues. Quality of life (QoL) evaluation tools used in all studies for AA and PNH are rather unspecific and were initially designed for cancer patients (e.g. the European Organization of Research and Treatment (EORTC) QLQ-C30). Given the complexity of AA and PNH, the variation in symptoms and different treatment approaches (immunosuppression, bone marrow …