Factors affecting quality of life for patient with leukemia

ABSTRACT

Leukemia is a chronic and life-threatening illness. The symptoms and side effects from leukemia and its treatment, such as chemotherapy, affect every aspect of quality of life of patients with leukemia. The present study aims to identify factors affecting quality of life for patient with leukemia. The research question is; what are the factors affecting quality of life for patient with leukemia? The study subjects consisted of 37 patients diagnosed with leukemia, at the Hematology Unit, in Ain Shams University Hospital. The tools of data collection were;l] Patient assessment sheet; to assess patient's socio-demographic characteristics, disease characteristics and family history as well as smoking habits and level of knowledge regarding to leukemia.2] Activities of daily living scale; to assess patient's ability to perform activities of daily living. 3] Quality of life scale, to determine the effect of leukemia on physical, social, psychological and spiritual conditions of patients under study. The results of the study revealed that more than three quarters of patients had satisfactory level of knowledge regarding to their condition, most of them were independent, and the majority had moderate quality of life, while the majority of patients who had high level of quality of life were nonsmoker, had leukemia for less than 6 months and on chemotherapy. The study concluded that, factors affecting quality of life for patients with leukemia are age, marital status, educational level, socio-economic level, residency, smoking habits, duration of illness and being on chemotherapy treatment. The study recommended that, tailored counseling program is a must and essential to help patient with leukemia to cope with his physical, social, and psychological conditions