Hemophilia in Patients 50 Years or Older: Quality of Life, Health Maintenance, Cancer Screening and COVID19

INTRODUCTION: Major progress has been made in treatment of patients with hemophilia over the last 30 or 40 years. Factor replacement, eliminating HIV and hepatitis C transmission, and more recently, longer-acting coagulation factors and immune treatments play a role in allowing patients with hemophilia to experience a longer and healthier life. Previous studies show that invasive procedures like colonoscopies, bronchoscopies or biopsies can safely be performed in patients with hemophilia if an appropriate factor replacement is given. However, because of their risk of bleeding, patients with hemophilia may be reluctant to undergo such invasive procedures or get recommended health maintenance, and these fears may have been worsened by the outbreak of COVID19. Therefore, we wondered if older patients with hemophilia have been impacted by the COVID19 pandemic and have received the recommended vaccinations and cancer screenings.