The impact of educating parents of leukemic children on the patients' quality of life.

BACKGROUND

The quality of life of children with leukemia is reduced by fear and anxiety of parents after diagnosis, lack of information about the disease, treatments, and care of the child. This study aims to evaluate the effect of educating parents of leukemic children on the patients' quality of life.

METHODS

In this interventional study, sixty parents of ALL children who met inclusion criteria were selected using simple random sampling method, and assigned to the experimental and control groups. The study tool included a valid and reliable questionnaire (TNO-AZL), that was filled in through interview by parents before and two months after the intervention for both groups. The first part of the questionnaire included demographic items and the second part (7 dimensions, each with 8 sections) contained questions related to the quality of life. The scores could range between 56 and 280 and a higher score represented a better quality of life. The intervention included three one-hour classes composed of lecture and question-answer sessions which were held for groups of 4-6 participants, accompanied by a booklet.

RESULTS

Before the intervention, the quality of life score in the experimental and control groups was 180.83±14.43 and 174.28±20.72, respectively; after the intervention, these figures changed to 226.9±11.76 and 174.41±20.42 respectively. Paired samples T-test proved a significant increase in the quality of life in the experimental group.

CONCLUSION

Parent education successfully increased the quality of life of leukemic children; therefore, parental consultation sessions and educational programs are recommended.