Abstract :
The goal of the study is to assess the quality of life (physical domain) of children aged from 13- to less than 18 years with acute lymphocytic leukemia undergoing chemotherapy as well as to find out the relationship between the quality of life (physical domain) of children with acute lymphocytic leukemia undergoing chemotherapy and socio-demographic characteristic (gender, residence, level of education, and family income) and their illness history. A descriptive study design was performed on children having acute lymphocytic leukemia who were between the ages of 13 years to less than 18 years. The study started from the period of 20th November 2020 to 1st January 2022. A non-probability purposive sample of (45) children diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia undergoing chemotherapy was chosen from the Baghdad teaching hospital. The researchers adopted the study instrument (questionnaire) based on: Adopted quality of life scale from the world health organization scale (WHOQoL, 1995) that included 2 parts. The study's findings are that the majority of the children 53.3% are diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia at age 16 years and more also, 46.7 of them are diagnosed at age 11- less than 16 years. 60% most of the children taken chemotherapy treatment are within (1- less than7) months, 77.8% of the children didn’t have any relatives with the same disease. Regarding the relation of inflicted family members, the highest percentage of the study sample 15.6% is among third-degree relatives. The study concluded that children aged from 13 to less than 18 years of acute lymphocytic leukemia undergoing chemotherapy have moderate to low effects on physical domains of the quality of life. The study recommended that Counseling sessions and education programs for all Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia children and their parents on leukemia, medical management, attempts to overcome side effects, nutrition, and support systems, all of which contribute to enhancing the children's quality of life.
