Conclusion

Congruent with expectation, our review demonstrated that compliance to iron chelators maximises the benefits of the therapy in reducing serum ferritin, iron overload complications and HRQoL. The serum ferritin levels appear to be the most affected outcome by compliance, while the relationship between ICT compliance, iron overload complications, and HRQoL was shown but further investigation is needed. To fully understand the impact of compliance on the most vulnerable patient groups, more comprehensive research with larger sample size and comparing the impact of ICT to the outcomes of interest among different age groups is needed.