Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jul 9;11(7):837.
doi: 10.3390/children11070837.

Assessing Psychological Disorders in Turkish Adolescents with Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia

Aylin Yetim Şahin  1 , Ibrahim Kandemir  2 , Hüseyin Dağ  3 , Emine Türkkan  4 , Melike Tuğrul Aksakal  1 , Memduh Sahin  5 , Firdevs Baş  1 , Zeynep Karakaş  6
Affiliations

Assessing Psychological Disorders in Turkish Adolescents with Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia

Aylin Yetim Şahin et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

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 p < 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.

Keywords: RCADS; anxiety; beta-thalassemia major; depression; transfusion-dependent thalassemia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of the RCADS subscale scores between the adolescents with TDT and the healthy control group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The RCADS subscales regarding confounders (group, age, and gender).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The associations of transfusion frequency (one, two, or three transfusions per month) with RCADS subscale scores. The lines refer to transfusion frequency and 95% CI (from top to below: every two weeks, every three weeks, and every four weeks, respectively).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Origa R. β-Thalassemia. Genet. Med. 2017;19:609–619. doi: 10.1038/gim.2016.173. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sevimli C., Yilmaz Y., Bayramoglu Z., Comert R.G., Gul N., Dursun M., Karakas Z. Pancreatic MR imaging and endocrine complications in patients with beta-thalassemia: A single-center experience. Clin. Exp. Med. 2022;22:95–101. doi: 10.1007/s10238-021-00735-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Afifi T., Elessi K., Samaan M., Elhatal H.A., Lamzi A.A., Elian R., Elblbessy M., Ataya A.A., Humeid M., Amro H.A., et al. Anxiety and Depression among Children with Cancer, Children Undergoing Hemodialysis and Children with Thalassemia: A Comparative Study. Int. J. Clin. Med. Edu. Res. 2022;1:89–93.
    1. Shonkoff J.P., Garner A.S. Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, & Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics. 2012;129:e232–e246. doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-2663. - DOI - PubMed
    1. El-said S.G., Darwish A., Wahba N.M. Stress, anxiety and depression among adolescents suffering from thalassemia. Port Said Sci. J. Nurs. 2021;8:149–168.

LinkOut - more resources