Parental Stress and Quality of Life among Parents of Children with Leukemia

Background: A diagnosis of childhood leukemia is a devastating experience for any parent, which causes parental stress and has been shown to inflict a significant negative impact on their quality of life.Aim of the study: This study aimed to examine the relationship between parental stress and quality of life among parents of children with leukemia.Research Design: A descriptive design was utilized in this study.Setting: The study was conducted at the hematology and oncology clinic at a specialized Pediatric hospital in Benha city, Kaluobia Governorate and 57357 hospital for pediatric oncology.Sample: A purposive sample consisting of 100 parents of children with leukemia.Tools: Three tools were used for data collection: I) A structured interviewing questionnaire included socio-demographic data and clinical data.II) Parental Stress Scale (PSS).III) Quality of Life Scale (QOLS).Results: One half of the studied parents had high stress levels, less than half had moderate stress levels, and one tenth of studied parents had low stress.Furthermore, less than three quarter of the studied parents had a poor level of quality of life and less than one tenth of parents had a good level of quality of life.Conclusion: There was a highly statistically significant negative correlation between parental stress and total quality of life among the studied parents; the parents of children diagnosed of leukemia are more prone to face parental stress, and parents who have stress are likely to have impaired the quality of life.Recommendations:Psycho-educational programs should be integrated as a routine nursing intervention for parents of children with leukemia, to reduce their parental stress and improve the quality of life.