5574716 problems and strategies of blood transfusion in thalassemia during covid-19 pandemic in indonesia

Transfusion-dependent thalassemia is the most severe form of thalassemia in which patients require a regular blood transfusion to maintain their haemoglobin level. COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the routine measure in controlling chronic diseases like thalassemia. This study aims to measure the difference in pre-transfusion haemoglobin level and frequency of transfusion before and during pandemics. This retrospective cross-sectional study utilized medical records data of 101 transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT) patients treated in Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (CMH) from 2019-2021. The dependent variables of this study were pre-transfusion haemoglobin level and transfusion attendance. The pre-pandemic phase was defined from March 30, 2019, to March 29, 2020, whereas the during-pandemic phase was from March 30, 2020, to March 29, 2021. Up to 59.4% of subjects had suboptimal Hb level of < 9.0 g/dL even before the pandemic and it increased to 71.3% during a pandemic. Transfusion frequency of pre-pandemic and during-pandemic phases showed no significant difference (p-value = 0.990). The mean pre-transfusion haemoglobin level before the pandemic was 8.71 g/dL and it decreased to 8.46 g/dL (p-value <0.001). Our study showed poorer control of pre-transfusion Hb levels during the pandemic and decreased transfusion frequency. This puts them at a higher risk of developing many long-term complications. References 1. Kandasamy D et al, Hematol Transfus Cell Ther 2022;44(1):17-25. 2. Miskeen E et al, J Multidiscip Healthc 2021;14:3063-71. 3. Chang L et al, Transfus Med Rev 2020;34:75–80 4. Timeline: WHO’s COVID-19 response [Internet]. Who.int. 2022 [cited 4 March 2022]. Available from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/interactive-timeline. 5. Wahidiyat PA et al, VOXS 2020;15(3):334–41. 6. Capellini N et al, Thalassaemia International Federation; 2021.