Abstract
BACKGROUND: Leukemia is a life-threatening chronic disease for children. The recurrence of the disease causes tension and reduces the quality of life for the family, especially for mothers. Religion is an important humanitarian aspect of holistic care that can be very effective in determining the health level of the patient and the family members. The present study aims at investigating the role of religious coping (RCOPE) in the quality of life for mothers of children with recurrent leukemia. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of the descriptive-correlational type. Two-hundred mothers with children aging 1-15 years suffering from leukemia were selected using a continuous sampling method. The data were collected using questionnaires eliciting information about personal information, Persian version of the Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer, and RCOPE. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS using descriptive tests and independent samples t-test. RESULTS: The result of examining the relation between life quality and demographic features of mothers showed that education level, income, and occupation had a significant statistical relationship with general quality of life mothers. The results of examining the relationship between quality of life and RCOPE of mothers showed that RCOPE was positively correlated only with the positive coping dimension quality of life (P < 0/001). Negative RCOPE had a significant reverse statistical correlation with general quality of life and all its aspects. CONCLUSION: The quality of life for the participants in this study was significantly related to RCOPE. Mothers with negative RCOPE faced low scores for quality of life, and religious support can improve their life quality. Further longitudinal studies are required to investigate the effects of establishing support communities.