Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Psychiatry 1735-4587 7 1 2012 03 15 47 51 Majid Naderi Department of Pediatrics, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Research Center for Children and Adolescents Health (RCCAH) & Clinical Research Development Center (CRDC), Ali ebn-e Abitaleb (AS) teaching hospital, Zahedan, Iran. Mohammad Reza Hormozi Morteza Ashrafi Abolfazl Emamdadi General Practitioner, Research Center for Children and Adolescents Health (RCCAH) & Clinical Research Development Center (CRDC), Ali ebn-e Abitaleb (AS) teaching hospital, Khalij-e Fars Blvd, Zahedn, Iran 2015 10 14 Objective: Beta-thalassemia major (β-TM) is a c hronic, genetic and hematological disorder. Children and teenagers with chronic physical illnesses exemplified by thalassemia are vulnerable to emotional and behavioral problems. The aim of this study was to evaluate mental health and its related factors among young patients with beta-thalassemia major. Methods: In this cross-sectional observational descriptive-analytic study, we studied 164 patients suffering from Beta-thalassemia major with age range of 15-24 years who referred for treatment to Ali Ebn-e Abitaleb (AS) University Hospital in Zahedan, a city in South East of Iran, during 2009- 2010. The demographic data and pattern of mental health were collected by standard general health questionnaire (GHQ-28).Data was analyzed using statistical software SPSS (version 17.0); Student t test and Chisquare (χ2) were used.  Results: In this study, 96 (58.5%) patients were male; the mean age of all patients was 18.78 ±2.28. Based on d ata analysis, 83 patients (50.8%) suspected to have psychiatric disorders (58.8% of girls, 44.8% of boys). In addition, frequency of somatic symptoms, depression disorder, anxiety disorder and social dysfunction in all patients were 7.3%, 11.6%, 8.5% and 4.3% respectively. In illiterate patients, 70.4% suspected to have psychiatric disorder. Except for somatic disorder, other mental disorders were more frequent in girls. No significant association was found between mental state and gender, marital and literacy status and occupation. Conclusion : In this study, due to high prevalence of psychological disorders in young patients with Beta-thalassemia major, especially in girls, we suggest implementing further educational psychological programs to decrease the frequency of disorders. Moreover, conducting more quantitative and comprehensive researches is suggested to evaluate specific effective factors in psycho-social health. https://ijps.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijps/article/view/221 https://ijps.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijps/article/download/221/217