DOI: 10.36347/sasjm

Pages: 57-60

Thalassaemia is an autosomal recessive hemoglobinopathy which is an increasingly serious public health issue in India. Chronic diseases like beta thalassemia create a burden on parents by means of frequent hospital visits, social and financial stresses which ultimately lead to impairment in multiple aspects of their lives. The aim is to assess the psychosocial impact of thalassemia on parents of affected children. This comparative study was conducted at Pediatric department of a teaching tertiary care hospital in Pune city. PedsQL™ Family Impact Module was used to assess psychosocial impact of thalassemia on parents of affected children and was compared with parents of children not affected with any chronic illnesses. Statistical analysis: Numerical data is expressed as mean ± SD and categorical data is expressed as number and percentage. Student two tailed t test is used to compare 02 independent data groups. P value for statistical significance is set at <0.05 for 2 tailed tests. Total 56 parents were included in this study, of which 28 were parents of thalassemic children and 28 were parents of children not suffering from any chronic illnesses. Total score, parent health-related quality of life summary score and family functioning summary score were affected significantly with a p value <0.0001. Thalassemia has significantly impaired the psychosocial aspect of parents of affected children