Abstract
<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>In our knowledge, there was no available information on social support and caregiver’s burden among parents of thalassemic children.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>AIM:</strong> To examine caregiver’s burden and social support in mothers of thalassemic children, this study was conducted.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>METHODS: </strong>This cross-sectional study was conducted from July to October 2013 in Jiroft Thalassemic Center (JTC) in southeast of Iran. To assess the caregiver’s burden and social support, caregiver burden scale and Norbeck social support questionnaire was used respectively.</p><p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>There was a response rate of 98% (160 out of 163 mothers were participated). Generally, 51.5% and 49.5% of mothers reported low and high level of social support, respectively. In term of caregiver’s burden, 20%, 29% and 51% of mothers reported high, moderate and low level of burden, respectively. There was no significant correlation between mean score of caregiver’s burden and mean score of social support.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>CONCLUSION:</strong> Our study showed that social support of Iranian mothers with thalassemic children is low. In addition, caregiver’s burden among this group of mothers is high. Further research is recommended to prepare more evidence in this regard.</p>
Highlights
Β-thalassemia major is a genetic disease which is characterized by defective production of hemoglobin and excessive destruction of red blood cells (Mazzone et al, 2009; Ali et al, 2012) This defect may cause an abnormal development of red blood cells and anemia with possible presentation of symptom of the thalassemia (Mazzone et al, 2009)
There was no significant correlation between mean score of caregiver’s burden and mean score of social support
Our study showed that social support of Iranian mothers with thalassemic children is low
Summary
Β-thalassemia major is a genetic disease which is characterized by defective production of hemoglobin and excessive destruction of red blood cells (Mazzone et al, 2009; Ali et al, 2012) This defect may cause an abnormal development of red blood cells and anemia with possible presentation of symptom of the thalassemia (Mazzone et al, 2009). Β-thalassemia is a major health problem worldwide and is more prevalent in some parts of Africa, Middle East region, the Indian Sub-continent, South-East Asia, and Melanesia as well as the Pacific Islands (Majid & Abidi, 2013; Baghianimoghadam et al, 2011). Iran is located on the “Thalassemia Belt” in the Eastern Mediterranean region of World Health Organization (WHO). Iran is one of most important countries with high prevalence of β-thalassemia major (Ghotbi & Tsukatani, 2005; Rezaee et al, 2012; Abolghasemi et al, 2007). Thalassemia has been spread across Iran, more prevalent in some provinces including Gillan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Bushehr, Hormozgan, Sistan-o-Baluchestan, Khuzestan, Fars and South of Kerman provinces (Gh & Ghaderi, 2013). There was no available information on social support and caregiver’s burden among parents of thalassemic children
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