Anxiety and Depression among Caregivers of the Children with Thalassemia, Attending at Thalassemia Control Unit of a Rural Tertiary Care Medical College, Darjeeling, West Bengal

Abstract

Background of Study: Caregivers of the children with thalassemia often experienced a life with varied degree of anxiety and depression due the chronic illness like of their children. Mothers as the main caregivers for most of the thalassemic children suffers with different forms of psychological problems. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the levels of anxiety and depression of the caregivers of children with Thalassemia and also to find out sociodemographic factors associated with their anxiety and depression. Materials and Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in Thalassemia Control Unit (TCU) of North Bengal Medical College (NBMC) from December 2018 to April 2019. Complete enumeration method was used to include 136 caregivers of children (≤12 years) with thalassemia. Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to assess the levels of anxiety and depression. Collected data were entered into MS-Excel and analyzed by using SPSS software program, version 22.0. Results: Mean age of caregivers was 34.3 (SD ± 1.4 years). Most of caregivers were female (89%) and had educational qualification up to primary school (45.6%). Majority (70.6%) of the caregivers were the mothers of the children. Most of the study participants (54.4%) had moderate depression followed by 30.1% with mild mood disturbances. Majority (69.9%) of the study participants had mild anxiety and 30.1% moderate anxiety. The median (IQR) of BDI score was 21(23–18) and median (IQR) of BAI score was 20(22–18). Conclusions: Early counseling, psychotherapy, appropriate treatment should be prioritized. Social support, community involvement with their full participation should be emphasized.