Prevalence and determinants of depression among caregivers of children with leukaemia in Iraq

ABSTRACT

Background: Depression in caregivers of leukaemic children is usually overlooked and hence missed, as doctors mostly focused on patient’s evaluation and condition. Early attention to symptoms of depression may help to prevent the devel-opment of a more serious depression over time.Aims: This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence, assess severity and identify determinants of depressive dis-order among caregivers of children with leukaemia in Baghdad, Iraq, 2014. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of caregivers of 250 leukaemia children aged <15 years admitted to Child Welfare Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. Socio-demographic variables were collected and the presence of depressive disorder was assessed using the Arabic Version of Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II); those with a score of >16 were considered depressed. Results: The prevalence of depression was 72% (95% CI 66–77.5%); classified to 18.9% having borderline clinical depres-sion, 36.7% moderate depression, 27.8% severe depression and 16.7% extreme depression. Presence of depression was sig-nificantly higher among younger age caregivers, disease duration of >12 months and frequent hospital admission. Conclusions: The high prevalence of depression among care givers of leukaemia patients urge health care professionals to pay more attention to the psychological aspects of the families of leukaemia patients and ensure referring them for psychiatric support.