Children’s experiences and responses towards an intervention for psychological preparation for radiotherapy

Engvall, Gunn; Lindh, Viveca; Mullaney, Tara; Nyholm, Tufve; Lindh, Jack; Ångström-Brännström, Charlotte

doi:10.1186/s13014-017-0942-5

Cited by 18 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…In children undergoing radiotherapy, anesthesia ensures adequate immobilization during verification of the patient's position and therapy delivery. With regard to acute and late risks, daily treatment under sedation ( 14 ) is associated with major changes in the child's daily routine, such as the need to fast for several hours ( 15 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Multidimensional Assessment for Pediatric Patients in Radiotherapy (M.A.P.-RT) Tool for Customized Treatment Preparation: RADAR Project

et al. 2021

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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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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Multidimensional Assessment for Pediatric Patients in Radiotherapy (M.A.P.-RT) Tool for Customized Treatment Preparation: RADAR Project

et al. 2021

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“…Patient setup using predetermined couch position and subsequent image guidance enables markless isocenter localization without the need of skin tattoos 6 . The permanent tattoos for conventional radiotherapy could have significant psychosocial impacts on patients, especially breast cancer patients and pediatric patients 8,9 . The implemented method may be useful for tattoo‐less radiation treatment in the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automatic couch position calculation using eclipse scripting for external beam radiotherapy

Wang

Rea

Rudek

et al. 2021

J Applied Clin Med Phys

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Purpose The treatment couch position of a patient in external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) is usually acquired during initial treatment setup. This procedure has shown potential failure modes leading to near misses and adverse events in radiation treatment. This study aims to develop a method to automatically determine the couch position before setting up a patient for initial treatment. Methods The Qfix couch‐tops (kVue and DoseMax) have embedded reference marks (BBs) indicating its index levels and couch centerline. With the ESAPI, a C# script was programmed to automatically find the couch‐top and embedded BBs in the planning CT and derive the treatment couch position according to treatment isocenter of a plan. Couch positions of EBRT plans with the kVue couch‐top and SBRT plans using the DoseMax were calculated using the script. The calculation was evaluated by comparing calculated positions with couch coordinates captured during the initial treatment setup after image guidance. The calculations were further compared with daily treatment couch positions post image‐guided adjustment for each treatment fraction. Results For plans using the kVue couch‐top for various treatment sites, the median (5–95 percentiles) differences between calculated and captured couch positions were 0.1 (−0.2 – 0.9), 0.5 (−1.1–2.0), 0.10 (−1.3–1.3) cm in the vertical, longitudinal, and lateral direction respectively. For the DoseMax couch‐top, the median differences were 0.1 (−0.2–0.7), 0.2 (−0.3–1.1), and 0.2 (−0.7–0.9) cm in respective direction. The calculated positions were within 1 and 2 cm from the mean fraction positions for 95% patients on DoseMax and kVue couch‐top respectively. Conclusions A method that automatically and accurately calculates treatment couch position from simulation CT was implemented in Varian Eclipse for Qfix couch‐tops. This technique increases the efficiency of patient setup and enhances patient safety by reducing the risks of positioning errors.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current project is based on previous research conducted by Engvall et al [ 10 ], who developed a digital story describing the RT procedure that was delivered as an application on a tablet designed for children. The participating children suggested that the application could have been more interactive if it had been designed as a game [ 10 ]. When designing serious games such as these, there are several aspects that need to be considered, such as the purpose of the game, the end users, the stakeholders in the project, and how the game can engage the players [ 11 - 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-creation of a Serious Game About Radiotherapy: Participatory Action Research Study With Children Treated for Cancer

Cederved¹,

Back²,

Ångström-Brännström³

et al. 2022

JMIR Hum Factors

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Background Children with cancer who have to undergo radiotherapy can experience fear, because they have no prior knowledge of the treatment. One way of teaching children about the treatment and reducing their fear is to prepare them for it through serious games. Involvement of the end user in the design process within medicine is a way of ensuring that the product being developed will fit the intended user. Objective The aim was to outline the contributions made by children and their parents through participatory action research when designing a serious game about radiotherapy. Methods By means of participatory action research, children and their parents participated in the development of a serious game about radiotherapy. Nine children (7-10 years old) were included, each with an accompanying parent. A qualitative approach was used that included interviews and participant observation. Six rounds of iterative development process were used with the children and their parents. Meetings with the children were held either face-to-face or online. Each round resulted in a list of suggestions for changes to the game. A thematic analysis was performed based on the list of proposed changes, underpinned by all gathered data, to highlight how the children’s participation changed the game. Results Two main themes were identified. The first theme was “The children’s participation was affected by their health and treatment” and included the following subthemes: “an opportunity to share emotions and perceptions of radiotherapy” and “the possibility to participate was affected by the severity of the disease.” The second theme was “participation allowed becoming an active part of game development” and included the following subthemes: “the opportunity to express sentiments about the game,” “the emergence of a playable game through the children’s contributions,” and “the necessity of understanding the text.” Conclusions The method used in this study made the children active participants, and our results suggest that this method can be used by health care researchers to cocreate serious games with children. It is necessary to inform the children involved that the process takes time, and that the process can be altered to allow as much participation as possible without placing a burden on them. The children’s illness affected their possibility to take part; thus, it is crucial to accommodate the children’s needs when conducting similar studies. The parents’ participation facilitated the meetings for their children, even though their involvement in the game design was negligible.

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Children’s experiences and responses towards an intervention for psychological preparation for radiotherapy

Cited by 18 publications

References 38 publications

The Multidimensional Assessment for Pediatric Patients in Radiotherapy (M.A.P.-RT) Tool for Customized Treatment Preparation: RADAR Project

The Multidimensional Assessment for Pediatric Patients in Radiotherapy (M.A.P.-RT) Tool for Customized Treatment Preparation: RADAR Project

Automatic couch position calculation using eclipse scripting for external beam radiotherapy

Co-creation of a Serious Game About Radiotherapy: Participatory Action Research Study With Children Treated for Cancer

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