Abstract
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 coefficient 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, psychological 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 providing warfarin therapy knowledge to warfarin patients does not necessarily improve their HRQoL.