The survey on the relationship between frustration and social relationships among patients with Thalassemia major in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

BackgroundThalassemia patients are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression and frustration can significantly affect social relationships. PurposeThe main objective of the present study was to survey the relationship between frustration and social relationship in patients with thalassemia major. Methods100 patients diagnosed with thalassemia major were selected based on a stratified random sampling method in Mofid Children’s Hospital, Tehran, Iran. The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) questionnaire was used to measure three dimensions of frustration. Moreover, the Quality of Relationship Inventory (QRI) questionnaire was employed to examine the three criteria, i.e., the perceived social support, interpersonal conflicts, and depth of relationships. All data were analyzed using analytical statistics (t-test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (K-S test), one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson correlation coefficient (r)). ResultsThe results obtained from the t-test showed that social relations were not significantly different between the two male and female groups (P = 0.764). Therefore, no meaningful relationship was found between gender and the quality of social relations. Moreover, the frustration had no effect on the significant relationship among male and female patients with thalassemia major (P = 0.105). The results obtained from the Pearson correlation test showed that at the statistical level, the P-value was equal to 0.001, proving the significance of the relationship. Therefore, our analyses revealed that as the level of frustration increased, the quality of social relations decreased, and vice versa. ConclusionThe results indicated an inverse relationship between frustration and the quality of social relations.