Quality of life of caregivers and impact on the nuclear family of children with leukaemia in the National Cancer Institute of Sri Lanka

Childhood leukaemia is the commonest cancer in children aged below 15 years. A diagnosis of childhood leukaemia is a devastating experience for any parent. This hospital-based descriptive cross sectional study aimed to assess the quality of life (QOL) of caregivers and the impact on the nuclear families of children with leukaemia. A convenient sample of 140 caregivers was surveyed using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Nearly 50% of caregivers reported low QOL in the psychological 71(50.7%), social 66(47.1%) and environmental 64(45.7%) domains while most nuclear families underwent moderate financial 88(62.9%) and psychological 100(71.4%) impacts. There was a statistically significant decline in parental employment status following the diagnosis (p<0.05).