The Effect of Ten Life Skills on Quality of Life in Adolescents with Thalassemia

Chronic diseases, including Thalassemia, have a profound effect on the functioning and overall life of the individual, especially at an early age. Given the low quality of life of adolescents with thalassemia and the importance of their function in society, this study aimed to determine the impact of applying life skills on quality of life in adolescents in Ahwaz in 2018.

This quasi-experimental study was performed on 84 adolescents with thalassemia major referred to Thalassemia Clinic of Baqa'i Hospital, Ahwaz city, Iran. The study was conducted from 2018 to 2020. Adolescents were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. Both groups completed the demographic information questionnaire and the Kidney Screening Questionnaire for Quality of Life of the Teenager 52. Then the experimental group received the educational content (holding a class, Q&A and booklet) for 6 sessions of 2-hour. The control group did not receive any training. Data were analyzed by SPSS 22 and Chi-square, independent t-test, and paired t-test.

The results showed that the difference between the mean of quality of life in the two groups of control and intervention was not significant (P<0.05) in pre-test. Also, post-hoc test (assuming non-homogeneity of variances) also showed a significant difference in mean of quality of life in post-test in both intervention and control groups (P<0.05).

Teaching ten life skills can have a significant impact on improving the quality of life of adolescents with thalassemia and can be used as an effective measure in this regard.