In Japan, home therapy of hemophilia was officially approved on February 1, 1983. A nation-wide survey was performed in August, 1984, and assessment of this type of treatment was tried through analysis of the results, from various points of view.
Questionaires were sent to hemophiliacenters covering 1,690 hemophiliacs. Out of the 1,690 patients, 639 (37.8%) were on home therapy programmes. Through analysis of 386 answers (60% of the 639 patients), it was revealed that mean age was 22 years, and duration of home therapy was within a year in 35.2% of the patients and above 5 years in 12.7%.
As for the amount of blood products consumed, after the start of home therapy programmes, it was “increased” in 19.0% of the patients by more than 20%, “decreased” in 43.5% of the patients by more than 20%, and “unchanged” in 34.7%. In 66 patients, actual annual amount used was studied. In average, 26,206±22,540 U/pt/year were used 2 years before starting home therapy, and 52,305±38,877 U/pt/year were used 4 years after starting the programme. However, if the amount of blood products consumed is divided by each patient's body weight, it was always around 900 U/kg/year, and did not show any significant changes through out the 7 years.
Benefits and problems of home therapy programmes were listed up by both the patients and hemophilia centers, and it was pointed out that proper teaching programmes were the most important, in order to solve the problems.
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