Worldwide, thalassemia poses a serious public health problem due to the high prevalence. Mothers usually take active roles in the care of their ill children. Several studies have found that parents of children with chronic diseases or disabilities have higher depression scores than control parents. The main aim of the present study was to investigate if mothers of children with thalassemia higher scores of depression compared with a group of control mothers.

In this study, 30 mothers were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Symptom check list-90-revised (SCL-90-R), COPE and SF-36, also 30 mothers were enroled as control group who have healty children.

Mothers who have children with the diagnosis of thalasemia had higher scores of depression from the BDI and lower quality of life scores (p< 0.05).

It seems that depressive people experience specific events before depression. Several studies have indicated that presence of a patient or disabled child in the family can cause stress and depression in parents.The results of this study can contribute to the development of a screening program for decreasing depression burden and promoting quality of life for mothers of children with thalassemia. It is an ongoing study.