Quality of life and quality-adjusted life years of chronic schistosomiasis mansoni patients in Brazil in 2015.

BACKGROUND

Measures of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) have been used to express the impact of neglected diseases and to generate indicators for health economic assessments. Schistosomiasis mansoni is a neglected disease with various clinical manifestations, including severe repercussions, caused by parasitic worms. Here we describe the quality of life of chronic schistosomiasis mansoni patients and estimate the quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) associated with chronic schistosomiasis mansoni in Brazil in 2015.

METHODS

A HRQoL study was carried out using the three-level European Quality of Life 5-Dimensions (EQ-5D-3L) questionnaire in 147 chronic schistosomiasis mansoni patients at an outpatient monitoring facility of an endemic state for schistosomiasis.

RESULTS

Losses in HRQoL were observed in all five dimensions of the EQ-5D-3L. Patients >60 y and 40-49 y of age reported the highest frequencies of problems. The average utility index was 0.71, and the median index was significantly lower among female patients and patients with comorbidities (0.68; p<0.05) compared with the entire sample. Approximately 26.7 QALYs were estimated for the study population and 31.2 QALYs for the chronic schistosomiasis mansoni patients in Brazil.

CONCLUSIONS

The advanced forms of schistosomiasis mansoni, even during treatment, contribute to important health losses in the population dealing with the disease.