Publication: Thalassaemia Management Outcome And Efficiency In Malaysia
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Date
2022-07
Authors
Mohammed, Siti Rahmah @ Noor Syahireen
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Abstract
Thalassaemia is a complex inherited blood disorder requiring life-long medical
care. Severe thalassaemia patients require regular blood transfusion and frequent visits
to healthcare facilities. Routinely transfused thalassaemia patients necessitate costly
iron chelating therapy to prevent iron overload complications that if left untreated, will
cause serious morbidity and mortality. Majority of thalassaemia patients in Malaysia
rely on public health facilities to receive medical care. Public hospitals providing
comprehensive care to thalassaemia patients including routine blood transfusions are
termed as thalassaemia care centres (TCC). The high number of transfusion-dependent
thalassaemia patients put substantial strain on the healthcare system. Hence, with finite
healthcare resources and growing number of patients, policymakers are urgently
finding more efficient ways to deliver health services without compromising on quality
of care and safety. Thus, the main objective of this thesis is to explore the management
and outcome of thalassaemia treatment program in Malaysia. The structure and
management of each thalassaemia care centres were characterized by means of
qualitative interviews with key opinion leaders as well as by analysing the existing
literatures and organizational reports. Next, data envelopment analysis (DEA) was
utilized to evaluate the technical efficiency of thalassaemia care centres. Bootstrap
truncated regression was then applied to determine the factors affecting the efficiency
of thalassaemia care centres. This thesis further investigates the barriers during
thalassaemia care management from both healthcare providers’ and patients’
viewpoint.