Stress, coping styles and social support in patients with thalassemia: a case–control study

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder associated with numerous challenges for individuals. The aim of this study is to compare the levels of perceived stress, coping strategies, and social support among individuals with thalassemia and healthy individuals. In this case–control study, 128 participants, including 64 thalassemic patientsand 64 healthy individuals, were examined. Patients were selected from the Thalassemia Center of Babol University of Medical Sciences. Healthy individuals were matched with the patient in terms of age and education level. All participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS-SF), and the Fleming Social Support Scale. Thalassemic patients receive significantly higher levels of social support (16.8 ± 3.1 vs 14.9 ± 3.7, P = 0.003), particularly from family and peers, However their perceived stress is significantly higher than healthy individuals (22.6 ± 5.0 vs 28.2 ± 5.2, P < 0.001). This study demonstrated that thalassemic patients exhibit significantly lower average use of Task-oriented coping styles and Emotion-oriented coping styles compared to healthy individuals. This study recommends healthcare professionals enhancing coping strategies against stress in thalassemic patient care. The high levels of stress in thalassemic patients underscore the need for targeted interventions to improve coping skills for these individuals. Due to the study’s limited sample size and sampling method, we recommend conducting a large-sized, randomly sampled survey in future research to provide more generalizable findings.