2314 – Psychiatric comorbidity and quality of life in patients with beta Thalassemia major

The study is aimed to assess quality of life, anxiety and depression levels and investigate the rate of psychiatric disorder in adolescent and young adults with beta Thalassemia major. Sample includes 43 patients with β-thalassemia major. Patients were screened by Structured Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I), Short Form-36 (SF-36) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD). Fourty two percent of the patients suffered from a psychiatric disorder. The most common psychiatric disorders were social anxiety disorder (%21) and generalized anxiety disorder (%12). Significantly lower quality of life was found on all 8 SF-36 domains for β-thalassemia major and psychiatric comorbidity patients compared to no-comorbidity patients.The correlation between HAD and SF-36 scores was statistically significant. Psychiatric disorders are significantly related to impaired quality of life. The correlations between anxiety, depression levels and SF-36 scores indicate that high depressive and anxiety levels are associated with reduced quality of life.