Context Despite emerging evidence of substantial financial distress in families of children with complex illness, little is known about economic hardship in families of children with advanced cancer. Objectives To describe perceived financial hardship, work disruptions, income losses and associated economic impact in families of children with advanced cancer stratified by federal poverty level (FPL). Methods This is a cross-sectional survey of 86 parents of children with progressive, recurrent or non-responsive cancer at three children’s hospitals. Seventy-one families with complete income data (82%) are included in this analysis. Results Parental work disruptions were prevalent across all income levels, with 67 (94%) families reporting some disruption. At least one parent quit a job because of the child’s illness in 29 (42%) families. Nineteen (27%) families described their child’s illness as a great economic hardship. Income losses due to work disruptions were substantial for all families; families at or below 200% FPL, however, were disproportionately affected. Six (50%) of the poorest families lost more than 40% of their annual income as compared with two (5%) of the wealthiest families (P=0.006). As a result of income losses, nine (15%) previously non-poor families fell from above to below the 200% FPL. Conclusion The economic impact of pediatric advanced cancer on families is significant at all income levels, although poorer families suffer disproportionate losses. Development of ameliorative intervention strategies is warranted.

Family financial hardship has emerged as a burden of pediatric cancer treatment with negative implications for family well‐being. As part of an extensive project to create evidence‐based standards for the psychosocial care of children with cancer, we performed a literature review of pediatric cancer‐associated financial hardship utilizing six databases, and identified 24 publications for incorporation into this review. Financial hardship during childhood cancer was found to affect a significant proportion of the population and to negatively impact family well‐being. Existing literature supports a strong recommendation for assessment of financial hardship as a component of comprehensive psychosocial care in pediatric oncology. Pediatr Blood Cancer © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Low-income and HMH are prevalent in a significant proportion of newly diagnosed pediatric oncology families at a large referral center. Despite psychosocial supports, the proportion of families experiencing unmet basic needs increases during chemotherapy to nearly one in three families. HMH provides a quantifiable and remediable measure of poverty in pediatric oncology. Interventions to ameliorate this concrete component of poverty could benefit a significant proportion of pediatric oncology families.

Purpose Financial concerns represent a major stressor for families of children with cancer but remain poorly understood among those with terminally ill children. We describe the financial hardship, work disruptions, income loss, and coping strategies of families who lost children to cancer. Methods Retrospective cross-sectional survey of 141 American and 89 Australian bereaved parents whose children died between 1990 and 1999 and 1996 to 2004, respectively, at three tertiary-care pediatric hospitals (two American, one Australian). Response rate: 63%. Results Thirty-four (24%) of 141 families from US centers and 34 (39%) of 88 families from the Australian center reported a great deal of financial hardship resulting from their children's illness. Work disruptions were substantial (84% in the United States, 88% in Australia). Australian families were more likely to report quitting a job (49% in Australia v 35% in the United States; P = .037). Sixty percent of families lost more than 10% of their annual income as a result of work disruptions. Australians were more likely to lose more than 40% of their income (34% in Australia v 19% in the United States; P = .035). Poor families experienced the greatest income loss. After accounting for income loss, 16% of American and 22% of Australian families dropped below the poverty line. Financial hardship was associated with poverty and income loss in all centers. Fundraising was the most common financial coping strategy (52% in the United States v 33% in Australia), followed by reduced spending. Conclusion In these US and Australian centers, significant household-level financial effects of a child's death as a result of cancer were observed, especially for poor families. Interventions aimed at reducing the effects of income loss may ease financial distress.

Observation, culture, and two rapid antigen test strategies for diagnostic testing and treatment of suspected GAS pharyngitis in adults have very similar effectiveness and costs, although culture is the least expensive and most effective strategy when the GAS pharyngitis prevalence is 10%. Empirical treatment was not the most effective or least expensive strategy at any prevalence of GAS pharyngitis in adults, although it may be reasonable for individual patients at very high risk for GAS pharyngitis as assessed by a clinical decision rule.

U.S. children with ALL living in high-poverty areas have a higher risk of early relapse when compared with those living in low-poverty areas despite uniform treatment. This may in part explain decreased OS observed in these children. This finding highlights disparities in childhood cancer outcomes by SES despite uniform treatment. Further investigations of the mechanistic pathways underlying this finding are needed.

Poverty is correlated with negative health outcomes in pediatric primary care and subspecialties; its association with childhood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patterns of care and clinical outcomes is not known. We describe family-reported financial hardship at a primary referral center in New England and explore the relationship between measures of poverty and patterns of care and clinical outcomes. Forty-five English-speaking parents of children after allogeneic HSCT in the prior 12 months completed a 1-time survey (response rate 88%). Low-income families, defined as ≤200% federal poverty level (FPL), were compared with all others. Eighteen (40%) families reported pre-HSCT incomes ≤200% FPL. Material hardship, including food, housing, or energy insecurity was reported by 17 (38%) families in the cohort. Low-income families reported disproportionate transplantation-related income losses, with 7 (39%) reporting annual income losses of >40% compared with 2 (18%) wealthier families (P = .02). In univariate analyses, 11 (61%) low-income children experienced graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) of any grade in the first 180 days after HSCT compared with 2 (7%) wealthier children (P = .004). We conclude that low income and, in particular, material hardship, are prevalent in a New England pediatric HSCT population and represent targets for improvement in quality of life. The role of poverty in mediating GVHD deserves further investigation in larger studies that can control for known risk factors and may provide a targetable source of transplantation-associated morbidity.

In this cohort of children with advanced cancer, children from low-income families were found to experience higher symptom burden and worse QOL.