Peer-reviewed article
Psychological Well-Being and Care Giver Burden of Parents Having Child with Leukemia
Robina Ghaffar, Afsar Ali, Hajra Sarwar ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This cross-sectional study looked at the psychological well-being and caregiving burden of 81 parents of children with leukemia. The parents were recruited by convenience sampling at Sadiq Abbasi Hospital in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Most parents reported poor psychological well-being and about half reported a high care burden. The authors conclude that parents caring for a child with leukemia carry a heavy emotional and caregiving load.
Key points
- Leukemia makes up 32.5% of childhood cancers worldwide and 46.5% of childhood cancers in Pakistan, according to the document.
- 71.60% of parents had poor psychological well-being.
- 49.38% of parents had a high care burden, 38.27% a moderate burden and 12.34% a low burden.
- Both mothers and fathers take part in direct care (tasks) and indirect care (financial support and facilities).
Limitations
The study is a single-hospital cross-sectional survey of 81 parents chosen by convenience sampling, so it cannot show cause and effect or represent all parents in Pakistan. The reported well-being percentages (71.60%, 18.51% and 38.27%) add up to more than 100%, so they cannot all be correct. The abstract also says nothing about the children's own well-being, and it does not evaluate any intervention.
Abstract
Leukemia is one of most prevalent type of cancer among the children with age less than 15 years. Worldwide, Leukemia represents 32.5% of all types of cancer among the children. In Pakistan, 46.5% child with cancer diagnosed with leukemia. Both the mother and father are involved in the direct and indirect care of their child with leukemia Direct care is the tasks with the care of the child with leukemia and indirect care is the financial support and the facilities provided to the patients. Objective: To determine the psychological wellbeing and Care burden among parents having Children with Leukemia. Methods: A cross-sectional study designed was used. A sample of n=81 participants was recruited from Sadiq Abbasi Hospital Bahawalpur, through convenient sampling. The psychological wellbeing and care burden questionnaires were used to measure care burden and psychological wellbeing among parents having children with leukemia. Filled questionnaires were entered and analyzed through SPSS version-21. Results: Findings revealed that 71.60% participants had poor psychological wellbeing, 18.51% had fair and only 38.27% had good wellbeing during their children leukemia care. Similarly, 12.34% had low care burden, 38.27% had moderate and majority 49.38% were having high care burden. Conclusions: Majority of the parents of children with leukemia in this study were having high care burden and poor psychological wellbeing while taking care of their children