Parental perceptions of health-related quality of life in children with leukemia in the second week after the diagnosis: a quantitative model

Abstract

A better knowledge of parents' views and expectations regarding their children's HRQL during the first treatments for pediatric leukemia may facilitate the communication processes in the hospital and may help to provide improved psychosocial care for the child during the first treatments for leukemia.

Health-Related Quality of Life in Children with Cancer

“…13,15,46,49 Children with ALL receiving maintenance treatment reported significantly lower HRQOL as compared to children at the completion of treatment. 54 However, there was a consensus among these studies that HRQOL steadily improved as children progressed in treatment, with highest HRQOL immediately after completion of treatment.…”

“…8 The poorest HRQOL was reported in children with AML and solid tumors, 15,48 while other studies reported finding no correlation between the type of cancer and HRQOL of children. 7,13,16,[39][40][41][42]46,49 Most of these studies measured HRQOL in a mixed sample of multiple, small diagnostic groups, thus proving difficult to interpret the effects of cancer type on the HRQOL outcome.…”

“…For example, two reviewed studies assessed HRQOL at the time of diagnosis, 15,16 while others chose a time point that was significant for the diagnostic group under study. 46,50,56 The fact that each diagnostic group had variability in treatment modality, intensity and timing made it difficult to draw comparisons or make assumptions regarding HRQOL across diagnoses.…”

“…Studies that have assessed the impact of cancer diagnosis on HRQOL have conflicting results, with some studies showing a significant effect of diagnosis on HRQOL, and others reporting the cancer diagnosis as having little impact on HRQOL. 7,8,13,15,16,[39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47] Two studies found that children with ALL tend to report higher HRQOL than children with solid tumors or central nervous system (CNS) tumors, 13,15,39 while another study reported that children with ALL experience a lower HRQOL than other groups. 8 The poorest HRQOL was reported in children with AML and solid tumors, 15,48 while other studies reported finding no correlation between the type of cancer and HRQOL of children.…”

“…[7][8][9]13,16,39,40,42,[44][45][46][47]49,50 However, of the 17 studies that measured age as a variable of HRQOL, only four identified age as having a significant impact on HRQOL during treatment. 9,13,44,46 Young children generally reported lower procedural anxiety and treatment anxiety than adolescents, 9 while older children reported better social HRQOL and communication that younger children. 57 Overall, HRQOL has been found to improve with age, 9,40 while another study found younger age to be associated with an improved HRQOL.…”