RESUMEN
Objective: To find the perceived stress level and monetary burden in the thalassemia patients and their caregivers related to thalassemia treatment sessions
Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at Rawalpindi Thalassemia Centre and Military Hospital Rawalpindi of six months' duration from November 2016 to April 2017. A total of 87 sample size was calculated by using WHO sample size calculator. Participants were inducted through purposive sampling technique from thalassemia centers. A validated standardized Cohen's Perceived Stress score was used. Data were entered and analyzed in SPSS 22
Results: Mean age of the participants was 30.42 +/- 14.53 years. There were 30 [34.2%] males and 57 [65.8%] females. There were 39 [51.3%] patients and 48 [48.7%] caregivers. The mean income per month of the participants was 48706.9 +/- 39492.68 PKR. The mean total expenditure per treatment session was 48706 +/- 4037.12 PKR. Among the patients, there were 15 [38.5%] who were having average stress, while 4 [10.3%] were having moderate stress while 45 [51.7%0] were having severe stress. Among the caregivers, 10 [20.8%] were having mild stress, 13 [27.1%] were having moderate stress while 25 [52.1%] were having severe stress. The stress among the two groups was not statistically significant [p=0.066]
Conclusion: More than half of the patients and caregivers were having a high perceived stress levels and there was a significant association between the two groups. The monetary burden was a lot to bear by the patients and the cost of treatment session most expensive