Depression among parents of children with thalassemia in Babylon Province- Iraq during the year 2014

Abstract EN

Thalassemia is not uncommon chronic disease in developing countries including Iraq it poses a heavy burden on the health care system as well as the tremendous pressure and psychological stresses that the parents suffer due to the presence of children with thalassemia in their families.The objective of this study is to identify the difference of the level and the score of depression between parents with thalassemic children and the control group.

This was a case comparison study which included 300 parents , one hundred were considered as cases because they are parents of thalassemia children ,the control group included two hundred parents of healthy children, both groups are the attendees of Hilla children and maternity hospital in Babylon province during the period from the beginning of July through the end of November 2014 .

Data collection was done by interviewing the two groups using a structured valid questionnaire prepared by the r0esearchers after obtaining the consents of participants.Beck Depression Inventory score was applied to mea in both groups.

Results showed that there were a significant high depression scores among the parents of diseased children compared to parents of the healthy children( P < 0.05 ) , no significant relation was found regarding the place of residence , in conclusion thalassemia put a stressful pressure on Iraqi families with diseased children especially mothers , a psychosocial support program is strongly requested to help them