Evaluation of Mental Health and Related Factors among Patients with Beta-thalassemia Major in South East of Iran

OBJECTIVE Beta-thalassemia major (β-TM) is a chronic, genetic and hematological disorder. Children and teenagers with chronic physical illnesses exemplified by thalassemia are vulnerable to emotional and behavioral problems. The aim of this study was to evaluate mental health and its related factors among young patients with beta-thalassemia major. METHODS In this cross-sectional observational descriptive-analytic study, we studied 164 patients suffering from Beta-thalassemia major with age range of 15-24 years who referred for treatment to Ali Ebn-e Abitaleb (AS) University Hospital in Zahedan, a city in South East of Iran, during 2009-2010. The demographic data and pattern of mental health were collected by standard general health questionnaire (GHQ-28).Data was analyzed using statistical software SPSS (version 17.0); Student t test and Chi-square (χ2) were used. RESULTS In this study, 96 (58.5%) patients were male; the mean age of all patients was 18.78 ±2.28. Based on data analysis, 83 patients (50.8%) suspected to have psychiatric disorders (58.8% of girls, 44.8% of boys). In addition, frequency of somatic symptoms, depression disorder, anxiety disorder and social dysfunction in all patients were 7.3%, 11.6%, 8.5% and 4.3% respectively. In illiterate patients, 70.4% suspected to have psychiatric disorder. Except for somatic disorder, other mental disorders were more frequent in girls. No significant association was found between mental state and gender, marital and literacy status and occupation. CONCLUSION In this study, due to high prevalence of psychological disorders in young patients with Beta-thalassemia major, especially in girls, we suggest implementing further educational psychological programs to decrease the frequency of disorders. Moreover, conducting more quantitative and comprehensive researches is suggested to evaluate specific effective factors in psycho-social health.