No Difference in Quality of Life Between Hemophilia A and B.

By Dr. David Clark

Dr. David Clark

Periodically, we see reports comparing hemophilia A and B. For scientists, that could be important for figuring out the basics of the two diseases. For the community, however, these differences sometimes seem to lead to “bragging rights.”

I’ve overheard As saying to Bs things like “we have it much worse than you Bs…”. That always makes me laugh. Does having a more severe disease make you the winner?

Anyway, the results of these studies are often mixed. As have it worse in some areas and Bs have it worse in others. In other cases, there does not seem to be a difference. That seems to be the case with quality of life, based on a 2023 study from The Netherlands.

Using several different measures, they found that there is no statistically significant difference between the two groups. In both cases they found that joint health was a major factor. The worse your joints, the worse your quality of life.

The issue then became, not a difference between As and Bs, but the fact that both groups, even with prophylaxis, had diminished quality of life.

We’ve seen this kind of finding as a byproduct from a number of recent studies. We still have a way to go before all people with hemophilia can lead normal lives. [Kihlberg K, et al., Haemophilia, online ahead of print 2/15/23]