The changes and general alarm of the current COVID-19 pandemic have amplified the sense of precariousness and vulnerability for family members who, in addition to the emotional trauma of the cancer diagnosis, add the distress and fear of the risks associated with infection. The primary objectives of the present study were to investigate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the parents of pediatric cancer patients, and the level of stress, anxiety, and the child’s quality of life perceived by the parents during the COVID-19 epidemic. The parents of 45 consecutive children with solid and hematological tumors were enrolled. Four questionnaires (Impact of Event Scale-Revised – IES-R; Perceived Stress Scale – PSS; Spielberger State – Trait Anxiety Inventory – STAI-Y; Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory – PedsQL) were administered to the parents at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown. A 75% of parents exhibited remarkable levels of anxiety, with 60 subjects in state scale and 45 subjects in trait scale having scores that reached and exceeded the STAI-Y cut off. The bivariate matrix of correlation found a significant positive correlation between the IES-R and PSS scores (r = 0.55, P < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between the PSS and PedsQL (emotional needs) scale (P < 0.001) and a negative correlation between IES-R and STAI-Y (P < 0.001). The results confirm that parents of pediatric cancer patients have a high psychological risk for post-traumatic symptoms, high stress levels, and the presence of clinically significant levels of anxiety.

Aims: Pediatric patients may experience considerable distress during radiotherapy. Combining psychological interventions with standard therapies can reduce the need for sedation. The RADAR Project aims to use a systematic method of recording data that can reveal patients' difficulties and fragility during treatment.In this context, the aim of our study was to investigate the ability of a multidimensional assessment tool (M.A.P.-RT schedule) to predict the need for sedation during radiotherapy. The schedule, which is administered during the first evaluation, was created to collect information on patients and their families in a standardized way.Materials and Methods: The study enrolled pediatric patients (aged 0–18 years or 18–21 with cognitive impairment). Data were collected by means of the M.A.P.-RT module; this explores various thematic areas, and is completed by the radiation oncologist, psychologist and nurse during their first evaluation. Features were selected by means of the Boruta method (random forest classifier), and the totals of the significant partial scores on each subsection of the module were inserted into a logistic model in order to test for their correlation with the use of anesthesia and with the frequency of psychological support. The results of logistic regression (LR) were used to identify the best predictors. The AUC was used to identify the best threshold for the scores in the evaluation.Results: A total of 99 patients were considered for this analysis. The feature that best predicted both the need for anesthesia and the frequency of psychological support was the total score (TS), the AUC of the ROC being 0.9875 for anesthesia and 0.8866 for psychological support.Conclusion: During the first evaluation, the M.A.P.-RT form can predict the need for anesthesia in pediatric patients, and is a potential tool for personalizing therapeutic and management procedures.

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