QUALITY OF LIFE OF CHILDREN WITH LEUKAEMIA: A TERTIARY CARE INSTITUTE OF UTTARAKHAND

Background: Leukaemia is one of the most common childhood cancer among all the type of cancer. Having a child with cancer affect every parents wellbeing both physically and mentally. It is very challenging for the parents to face it and it may disrupts even social life too. The objectives of the study was to assess quality of life of children with leukaemia.

Methods: Data were collected from ninety-eight parents of children who were diagnosed leukaemia and undergoing treatment at selected hospital of Dehradun,Uttarakhand. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQLâ„¢) generic core 4.0 and (PedsQLâ„¢) cancer module scales were used to assess quality of life of children. The study identified the various items in each domain of HRQOL that were affected in children with ALL from parents perspective.

Results: Children with leukaemia had shown significantly lower HRQOL scores across all domains especially emotional and school functioning domain compared with other domains. Parents reported that children with ALL had problems with nausea, worry, treatment and procedural anxiety.

Conclusion: Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that children with leukaemia experienced significantly poorer quality of life in various domains.