Assessment of functional ability and quality of life in children with thalassemia / Dina Kamal Mohamed Ismail ; Supervised Zeinab Ahmed Hussein , Mona Hassan Eltagui

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Growth and Development Disordars in Padiatrics

The purpose of this study was to assess the functional ability, pain, muscle strength and quality of life in children with Ý-thalassemia major. Sixty children with Ý-thalassemia major (28 boys and 32 girls) represented the thalassemia group and 60 healthy age-matched children (35 boys and 25 girls) represented the control group. They were participated in a cross-sectional study. The children in the thalassemia group were recruited from the out -patient clinic of "Abo El-Rish pediatric Hospital {u2013} Cairo University Hospitals". While the healthy children were recruited from the primary schools. Their ages ranged from 2 to 12 years. Both groups were stratified into three age subgroups; 2 {u2013} 4 years, 5 {u2013} 7 years, and 8 {u2013} 12 years. Each child of both groups was evaluated for pain by using VAS, handgrip strength by using the hand held dynamometer, functional ability and quality of life by using the Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL){u2122} 4.0 generic core scale. Results: The collected data was processed and statistically analyzed using t-test. The results showed that children with Ý-thalassemia major demonstrated higher scores of pain and lower scores of handgrip strength and functional ability, which associated with poorer quality of life when compared with the healthy age-matched children. Conclusion: Thalassemia as a chronic disease has a negative impact on pain, muscle strength, functional ability and quality of life in terms of physical, emotional, social and school functioning when compared with the healthy age-matched children

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