Quality of Self-Care in Adolescents with Major Thalassemia Referred to Selected Thalassemia Centers in Iran

Aims: Adolescents who suffer from chronic diseases such as major thalassemia are more susceptible to physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, educational, and social self-care failure. These factors are generally more likely to be overcome if affected adolescents have a high level of self-care. This study aimed to assess self-care quality in adolescents with major thalassemia. Instruments & Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on ۲۰۰ adolescents with major thalassemia who were selected by convenience sampling. The Self-Care Assessment Questionnaire (SCAQ) was used for data gathering, which consists of ۵۲ items in six dimensions. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, Pearson correlation, and ANOVA. Findings: There was no relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and dimensions of Self-Care in participants. The results present a high score of quality of Self-Care in adolescents with major thalassemia. The highest mean average score was assigned to dimensions of “Emotional/Mental Self-Care (۲.۴۴±۰.۶۴)”, “Social Self-Care (۲.۰۸±۰.۶۱)”, and “Spiritual Self-Care (۲.۰۷±۰.۶۲)”, respectively. Conclusion: It is recommended that this issue be investigated in other adolescent patients, considering the importance of Self-Care and its effects on various aspects of quality of life in chronic diseases. Also, planning and implementing patient education is another important management measure to promote Self-Care in these adolescents.

Keywords:

Self-Care quality , Adolescence , Major thalassemia