Psychological correlates of health related quality of life among adolescents with beta thalassemia major

Abstract

Beta thalassemia major is the severest form of beta thalassemia group of disorders. It is a type of hematopathology that causes the red blood cells of the body to be destroyed as soon as they are produced by the bone marrow causing severe anaemia. The only course of treatment in such conditions is by regular blood transfusion which continues for the rest of their lives. The study aimed to identify the psychological correlates and predictors of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among adolescents with beta-thalassemia major. The variables being examined were coping styles, healthy lifestyle behaviours, optimism, resilience, self-efficacy and social appearance anxiety. For this purpose, a sample of 200 adolescents between the age-range of 14 to 19 years was included. The sample was equally divided into study group and comparison group (n=100 each). The results indicated that HRQOL of beta thalassemia major adolescents significantly deteriorated in comparison to non-thalassemia healthy peers. There was a significant difference in HRQOL-T between thalassemia adolescents and healthy peers (t=-4.93, plt0.001) with healthy peers having better mean (M=91.37 ± 8.23) in comparison to thalassemia adolescents (M=84.89 ± 10.25). The following t-ratios came out to be statistically significant: healthy peers had higher mean on Physical HRQOL (t=-5.27, plt0.001), Psychological HRQOL (t=-3.41, plt0.001) and Social HRQOL (t=-6.54, plt0.001). The patients also engaged in more emotional (t=4.22, plt0.001) and avoidance (t=5.33, plt0.001) coping styles; less healthy lifestyle behaviours (healthy peers had higher mean on HLB-T (t=3.61, plt0.001), Health Responsibility (t=-2.17, plt0.05), Physical Activity (t=-5.53, plt0.001), Spiritual Growth (t=-4.15, plt0.001), Interpersonal Relationships (t=-2.16, plt0.05) and Stress Management (t=-2.87, plt0.001); were less optimistic (t=-5.05, plt0.001) and had higher social appearance anxiety (t=3.69, plt0.001).