Psychosocial status in pre-adolescent children with beta-thalassaemia

Psychiatric disorders and social profile were investigated in 57 children with beta-thalassaemia and 57 control subjects. Although there was no significant difference in the number of individuals with psychiatric disorders between the two groups, the number of psychiatric disorders observed in the group of patients was significantly greater than in the control subjects (p < 0.01). Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) was diagnosed in 23% of the thalassaemics and in 5% of the control subjects (p < 0.01). The frequency of ODD in male patients (38%) was significantly greater than in female (7%) (p < 0.01). Thalassaemic patients demonstrated a significantly greater frequency of disturbed behavior with relatives and friends than the control subjects (p = 0.0005). This behavior was related to ODD. Also, thalassaemic patients with ODD showed a significantly higher serum ferritin level than thalassaemics without ODD (p < 0.005). This was attributed to non-compliance to treatment. No association of ODD with another haematological parameter was found. ODD is the major psychiatric disorder appearing in thalassaemic pre-adolescent children warranting psychiatric intervention.