Journal of North Khorasan

Background & Objectives: Leukemia is considered one of the leading causes of death among children which is abnormal changes in the blood cells and bone marrow with increased numbers of abnormal blood cells and uncontrolled proliferation of immature white blood cells. The aim of this study was to assess risk factors in the development of leukemia in children less than 14 years. Materials and methods: In this case-control study, case group was including all less than 14 years children with acute myeloid leukemia and lymphoid during 2006 to 2011 in Amir-Kabir Hospital and control group was randomly selected from children under 14 years admitted to outpatient departments in Valiaser (aj) hospital in Arak. The data were included in a check list. Data analysis was performed using the statistical software SPSS version 20 and p<0.05 was considered as a significant level. Results: Out of the 72 cases, 46% were female and 54% male and mean age at diagnosis was 6.8±3.8 years. 81.9 percent of patients were ALL case and 18.1 percent were diagnosed with AML. Limb pain (65%), pallor (5/32%) and lethargy (30%) were the most common symptoms of the disease. Based on the results, age, breast feeding, white blood cells, platelets and hemoglobin were significantly associated with leukemia. Conclusion: The study findings showed that older age, low breast-feeding, the number of white blood cells, platelets and hemoglobin are associated with the risk of leukemia in children is therefore recommended further diagnostic procedures should focus on these groups.