A STUDY TO ASSESS THE QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM THALASSEMIA WITH A VIEW TO DEVELOP A PARENTAL GUIDELINE IN THE SELECTED DAY CARE CENTRE OF KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder, which is characterized by decreased synthesis or absence of globin. The study was conducted to assess the quality of life among children suffering from thalassemia with a view to develop a parental guideline in the selected day care centre of Kolkata, West Bengal. A non-experimental survey approach with descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The data were collected using convenience sampling technique among 100 parents of children suffering from thalassemia and receiving blood transfusion at Institute of Blood Transfusion Medicine & Immunohaematology, Central Blood Bank, Maniktala, Kolkata. Findings revealed that out of 100 children suffering from thalassemia, 86 (86%) had good quality of life, rest 14 (14%) had satisfactory quality of life and none of them had poor quality of life. There was significant association of quality of life with selected variables like age, religion, educational status of father, educational status of mother, age of detection of thalassemia, age of starting blood transfusion at < 0.05 level of significance.