Caregiver Burden and Social Support in Mothers with β-Thalassemia Children

BACKGROUND: In our knowledge, there was no available information on social support and caregiver’s burden among parents of thalassemic children.

AIM: To examine caregiver’s burden and social support in mothers of thalassemic children, this study was conducted.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from July to October 2013 in Jiroft Thalassemic Center (JTC) in southeast of Iran. To assess the caregiver’s burden and social support, caregiver burden scale and Norbeck social support questionnaire was used respectively.

RESULTS: There was a response rate of 98% (160 out of 163 mothers were participated). Generally, 51.5% and 49.5% of mothers reported low and high level of social support, respectively. In term of caregiver’s burden, 20%, 29% and 51% of mothers reported high, moderate and low level of burden, respectively. There was no significant correlation between mean score of caregiver’s burden and mean score of social support.

CONCLUSION: Our study showed that social support of Iranian mothers with thalassemic children is low. In addition, caregiver’s burden among this group of mothers is high. Further research is recommended to prepare more evidence in this regard.