Aliya Bibi, Mohsin Hassan, Samin Ullah Khan, Muhammad Omar Naeem, Lajward Asnath.
Assessment of the quality of life of children with beta thalassemia in Peshawar District: a cross sectional study.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;60(3):121-5.

Background: Pakistan is considered as one of the highest thalassemia burden countries in the world. For chronic conditions like thalassemia, not only survival rate of the patient is significant but also their quality of life that includes both psychological and social functioning is important. Objective: To assess the quality of life of the children with beta thalassemia major in district Peshawar. Study type, settings & duration: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in four thalassemia centers of Peshawar from February to June 2018. Methodology: A total of 100 thalassemia patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected for the study by non-probability convenient sampling technique. The data were collected through the questionnaire modified from SF- Questionnaire. Data was analyzed on SPSS version 15. Results: This study showed that 72% of the study participants were depressed, about 70% were afraid of performing any activity and 56% had trouble in sleeping, whereas 74% had a gloomy state of mind. We also found out that there was a significant limitation of activities of the participants as 48% of study participants complained of shortness of breath during physical activities and 66% of the participants were complaining of pain during physical activity. Conclusion: The quality of life of the children suffering from thalassemia major is tremendously affected. They are vulnerable to physical, emotional and socio-psychosocial distress in very early stage of life that might impose hindrance to their way of growing into independent and functional adults in future. Key words: Beta thalassemia, blood transfusion, quality of life, children.

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