A Study to Assess the Quality of Life (QOL) Among Parents of Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) Attending Oncology Out Patient Department (OPD) In Selected Hospital of Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Introduction: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood cancer. The leukemia affects not only the quality of life (QOL) of children but also their caregivers. This study aimed to identify the Quality of Life of parents of children with ALL and to find out the association between QOL of parents of children with ALL and the selected demographic variables.

Methods: A descriptive study was conducted to assess the QOL among parents of children with ALL. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was followed to select 70 parents of children with ALL attending oncology Outpatient Department in selected hospitals of Kolkata, West Bengal. Semi-structured interview was conducted and the 'Adult Carer Quality of Life (ACQOL)', the standardized questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life.

Results: The study findings revealed that majority (71.43%) of the parents were mother, maximum (77.14%) parents were belonged to the 30-40 years of age group, majority (42.86%) of the parents spent more than 60 hours per week for caring. It was found that majority of the clients 48 (68.57%) had perceived their quality of life as 'Mid-range'. There was a significant association between QOL and monthly family income and time (in hours) spent for caring per week.

Conclusion: The study was believed to be a helpful guide for future study on assessment of Quality of Life of any other caregivers in a large sample for better generalization.