Background: Although cancer patients experience distressing symptoms and health-related changes in their quality of life, they may report positive emotional states. The lives of informal caregivers of cancer patients may also be affected by the patient's cancer diagnosis; however, they may also find benefits in their experiences. Noticeable changes are reported in personal priorities after an oncologic diagnosis that can lead individuals to restructure their values and the way they perceive life. This study aims to assess happiness/satisfaction with life and positive and negative affect in cancer patients and informal caregivers compared with healthy people in the general population. Methods: A cross-sectional study with participants recruited online in five regions of Brazil through the social network site Facebook® and the application WhatsApp®. Surveys were completed using the SurveyMonkey® platform. A different sample of cancer patients and informal caregivers that was personally interviewed with the same forms was also grouped in the present analysis. Variables with p-values < 0.05 in the univariate analysis were included in linear regression models (stepwise, backward). Results: A total of 2580 participants were included, of whom 2112 were healthy representatives of the general population, 342 were cancer patients, and 126 were informal caregivers of cancer patients. In the multivariate analysis, the cancer patients and informal caregivers were happier than the healthy people in the general population, even after controlling for age, sex, educational level, and income. The patients and caregivers had lower scores for positive affect and higher scores for negative affect.

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to translate, culturally adapt and validate the Symptom Screening in Paediatrics Tool (SSPedi) into the Brazilian Portuguese language to be used by paediatric oncology patients in Brazil.DesignA descriptive, cross-sectional study that follows an established methodology for translation and cultural adaptation, developed in two phases: phase I, linguistic translation and cultural adaptation of the SSPedi scale and phase II, psychometric properties evaluation.SettingChildren’s Hospital for Cancer Treatment in Latin America.ParticipantsPaediatric patients between 7 and 18 years of age and proxies of patients between 2 and 6 years of age, diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Patients and proxies with significant neuropsychiatric disorders and/or visual impairment that prevented the ability to read were excluded.Primary outcome measuresConstruct validation of SSPedi using convergent validity and contrasted groups. Reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha test and assessing the retest using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).ResultsThe psychometric properties of the symptom screening tool were evaluated using 157 participants, of which 116 were patients and 41 were proxies. Convergent validity and hypothesised correlations (Spearman’s r>0.4) were confirmed for both self- and proxy-reported versions of the assessment tool. No significant differences found between the two contrasting groups. Assessment of SSPedi resulted in an internal consistency of reliability of α=0.77 (95% CI 0.70 to 0.82) for the self and α=0.81 (95% CI 0.71 to 0.88) for the proxy and overall reproducibility ICC values of (95% CI), 0.54 (0.15 to 0.77) and 0.77 (0.64 to 0.86).ConclusionSSPedi was found to be culturally and linguistically adaptable and considered valid and reliable for use by paediatric oncology patients in Brazil. The new translated and adapted version was named SSPedi-BR.

ObjectivesTo identify the association of multiple symptoms and clinical characteristics on quality of life (QoL) of paediatric patients with cancer.DesignA descriptive, cross-sectional study.SettingSouth American Children’s Hospital for Cancer Treatment (Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil).ParticipantsA total of 157 participants, 116 paediatric patients, diagnosed with cancer, undergoing chemotherapy treatment, between 7 and 18 years of age and 41 proxies for patients between 2 and 6 years of age.Primary outcome measuresThe severity and prevalence ofsymptoms were identified through the use of a culturally adapted multi-symptomscreening tool, and the influence these symptoms, in association with clinicalcharacteristics, had on the QOL of Brazilian pediatric cancer patients wasassessed.ResultsPrevalent symptoms identified by all participants were ‘feeling tired’ (98, 62.4%), ‘feeling more or less hungry (do not feel like eating) than you usually do’ (96, 61.1%), ‘changes in taste (flavour of the food)’ (89, 56.7%), ‘throwing up or feeling like you may throw up’ (77, 49%) and ‘changes in how your body (visually) or face looks’ (72, 45.9%). The multivariate analysis for symptom severity as reported by proxies showed that surgery (OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.98, p=0.047) and time of diagnosis (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.66, p=0.012) were associated with a decreased OR of high severity symptoms.An analysis of the clinical characteristics associated with Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) demonstrated no significant effect on QoL in any of the domains evaluated. The association between Symptom Screening in Pediatrics Tool and PedsQL in the self-report version demonstrated a significant negative influence of all symptoms on the QoL.ConclusionsThe prevalence of symptoms experienced among pediatric patients during treatment was high and significantly influenced all aspects of quality of life,especially in the emotional domain.