Warfarin therapy knowledge and health-related quality of life among warfarin patients in Saudi Arabia

The purpose was to assess the association between warfarin therapy knowledge and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) among patients on warfarin in Saudi Arabia. A prospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted on 387 warfarin patients attending an outpatient anticoagulation clinic of Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University Hospital in Alkharj, Saudi Arabia. Warfarin therapy knowledge was assessed using a self-developed and pre-validated questionnaire whereas the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was measured using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to examine patients’ demographic characteristics and to determine the association among different variables. Spearman’s correlation coeffi-cient was used to determine the association between various study variables. A total of 387 participants with more females than males (n=257, 66.4% and n=130, 33.6%, respectively). The mean knowledge score for the study population was 9.94 ± 2.48. Mean HRQoL score for physical health domain, psycholog-ical domain, social relationships domain and environment domain were 62.11 ± 15.53, 68.20 ± 16.11, 64.46 ± 26.19 and 63.43 ± 17.60 respectively. The correlation coefficient for all four domains of WHOQOL-BREF vs total score of warfarin therapy knowledge were-0.111,-0.160,-0.112 and-0.121, respectively, indicating a weak negative association among them (p < 0.001). Study results indicate a negative association between warfarin therapy knowledge and HRQoL among warfarin patients. In other words, just provid-ing warfarin therapy knowledge to warfarin patients does not necessarily improve their HRQoL.