Assessing Psychological Disorders in Turkish Adolescents with Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia

• Published in: Children (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 7; p. 837
• Main Authors: Yetim Şahin, Aylin, Kandemir, Ibrahim, Dağ, Hüseyin, Türkkan, Emine, Tuğrul Aksakal, Melike, Sahin, Memduh, Baş, Firdevs, Karakaş, Zeynep
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.07.2024
• Subjects: Adolescence; Age; Anxiety; Autism; beta-thalassemia major; Blood diseases; Blood transfusion; Children & youth; Chronic illnesses; depression; Depression, Mental; Development and progression; Fear & phobias; Ferritin; Gender; Generalized linear models; Hematology; Hypotheses; Liver diseases; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental health; Multivariate analysis; Panic attacks; Patients; Pediatrics; RCADS; Separation anxiety; Teenagers; Thalassemia; transfusion-dependent thalassemia; University faculty; Validity; Youth; Istanbul Turkey; Turkey; beta-thalassemia major; transfusion-dependent thalassemia; anxiety; depression; RCADS
• ISSN: 2227-9067; 2227-9067
• DOI: 10.3390/children11070837

We investigated depression and anxiety levels and related psychological disorders in adolescents with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT) in this study. The study was conducted in two pediatric hematology outpatient clinics and included adolescents with TDT (14.8 ± 2.4 years, n = 40) in the study and compared them with the healthy age-matched control group (14.3 ± 2.3 years, n = 62). The Turkish version of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) was used to determine depression, anxiety, and related psychologic disorders (obsession, panic disorder, social phobia). Depression, anxiety, obsession, panic disorder, and social phobia scores were significantly higher in the patient group compared with the control (all < 0.05). Ferritin levels were positively correlated with total depression, general anxiety, separation anxiety, and social phobia scores, but transfusion frequency and young age were the confounding factors. Patients in early adolescence and those who require more frequent blood transfusions are at higher risk of developing psychological disorders; routine screening for mood disorders should be warranted. Serum ferritin level may be a good warning indicator for early recognition of psychologic disorders in TDT patients.