Caregivers burnout of their children with thalassemia

Abstract

Background: Thalassemia has a negative influence on emotional and social life of caregivers as it is associated with significant social disruption, emotional or psychological stress and highly involved with children's psychological problems. Aim: The study aimed to assess caregivers` burnout of their children with thalassemia. Design: Descriptive research design was applied in this study. Sample: Purposive sample was equal 116 caregivers. Setting: The outpatient clinics at Mustafa Hassan university hospital for pediatric (Al-fayoum, Egypt). Tools: Two tools were used, first tool: includes structure interviewing questionnaire of demographic characteristics of caregivers and their children, past and present medical history and caregivers` knowledge regarding thalassemia. Second tool: caregivers` burnout tool for thalassemia Result: The study showed that, 60% of studied caregivers had unsatisfactory knowledge regarding thalassemia while, 40% of them had satisfactory knowledge regarding thalassemia. 70% of studied caregivers had high burnout while, 30% of them had low burnout regarding thalassemia. Conclusion: there were significant positive correlation between studied caregivers’ total knowledge scores and total burnout scores of their children with thalassemia. Recommendation: implementation of health education program for caregivers for management of thalassemia at out-patient clinics.