Strategies for enhancing quality of life in thalassemic children

Thalassemia is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by the reduction or absence in the synthesis of the globin chains of hemoglobin. Worldwide, approximately 15 million people are estimated to suffer from this disease and 300 million carriers born every year. The carrier rate for β-thalassemia varies from 1% to 17% in India. The prevalence is very high among certain communities and is emerging as a major public health problem in India but received little attention. Due to the chronic nature of the disease, thalassemic children need long-term treatments such as blood transfusions and chelation therapy. Hence, these children need repeated hospitalization, forgo schooling, and cannot perform day-to-day activities including play. This may affect the quality of life (QoL) in these children. The nursing strategies for enhancing QoL include providing a network of care, supportive strategies, positive coping mechanism, ongoing assessment, prevention of complications, and empowering the children with thalassemia and their parents. The future hopes are unrelated cord blood stem cells, gene therapy. To conclude, a comprehensive approach toward the care of children with thalassemia can increase the level of QoL among these children. The review search was done through Google engine, PubMed as well as scholarly articles from printed journals, and books