Illness Experiences of School-age Thalassemia Patients In Chaiyaphum Province

Abstract

The purposes of this mixed-method research were to study illness experiences and to examine factors associated with illness experiences of school-age Thalassemia patients in Chaiyaphum province. The study was conducted in 2 phases. In phase 1, school-age Thalassemia patients’ illness experiences were examined using qualitative research method based on knowledge from literature reviews, focus group and semi-structured in-depth interviews with the total of 24 Informants including parents and stakeholders. The data were analyzed using content analysis. In phage 2, the associations between selected factors and illness experiences of school-age Thalassemia patients were analyzed using quantitative research method. The samples were consisted of 150 school-age Thalassemia patients. Questionnaire used in this phase was comprised of 2 sections: 1) health perceptions and 2) illness experiences of school-age Thalassemia patients. Reliability of the questionnaire was tested yielding the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.91 and 0.94 respectively. The quantitative research data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation coefficients. The results from phase 1 showed that situations that contributed to Illness experiences can be categorized into three self-care behaviors: 1) self-management on daily activities, 2) emotional, psychological and social aspects included understanding and adaption to the illness, and 3) health care was affected by the treatments the patients received. In phase 2, factors found to be associated with illness experiences could be categorized in 3 aspects: parental, patient, and perceived health status aspects. In parental aspect, it was found that gender (r=0.284, p=0.05) and occupations (r=-0.340, p=0.05) were significantly associated with illness experiences. In patient aspect, gender (r=0.407, p=0.01) and blood transfusion (r=-0.303, p=0.05) were significantly associated with illness. In perceived health status aspect, it was found that motivation (r=0.364, p=0.01) and perceived susceptibility (r=-0.296, p=0.05) were significantly associated with illness experiences among school-age Thalassemia patients.  Results from this study could enhance a better understanding of Illness experiences of school-age Thalassemia patients. The findings could also be applied as a basis for nursing practices and further research.