Influence of pediatric cancer–related financial burden on parent distress and other stress‐related symptoms

Abstract

BackgroundPediatric cancer–induced financial burden is source of stress for parents, particularly mothers, single parents, and parents with lower incomes. This financial burden has been linked to poorer family quality of life (QOL) in terms of new onset material hardships, and could also affect individual QOL in terms of parents’ stress‐related symptoms. Our purpose was to describe pediatric cancer–induced financial burden among parents of children with that diagnosis, its effects on their stress‐related symptoms (distress, anxiety, cognition impairment, sleep impairment), and associations between select risk factors (relationship to the child, marital status, income) and the extent that financial burden affected parents’ symptoms.ProcedureWe recruited via two parent‐led groups and collected data using an online survey. We calculated frequencies of demographic characteristics, financial burden, and symptoms. We used chi‐square statistics to examine bivariate associations between the risk factors and extent that cancer‐related financial burden affected parents’ symptoms.ResultsMost (63.6%) respondents reported that pediatric cancer severely affected their finances. The majority (50.23‐69.86%) also reported that this burden severely affected their symptoms. Marital status, income, and, for some symptoms, relationship to the child were associated with the extent that financial burden affected the symptoms. Greater proportions of mothers (53‐73.5%), divorced/single parents (69.2‐90.4%), and parents in the lowest income category (77.3‐95.5%) experienced severely affected symptoms compared to fathers (41.7‐59.5%), married/partnered parents (41.7‐59.5%), and parents in the highest income category (28.6‐42.9%).ConclusionFinancial burden and symptoms are fitting targets for interventions to improve family and individual QOL in the context of pediatric cancer.

Fathers' psychological responses to pediatric cancer–induced financial distress

“…Clinicians should communicate that families normally experience financial distress due to pediatric cancer—no parent could logically have been prepared for this unforeseeable event and its huge financial demands. Clinicians must develop systematic, trauma‐informed means of universally screening for preexisting financial distress at diagnosis, and new or worsened financial distress over the illness trajectory 10,11 . They should systematically communicate with parents about the anticipated costs of their child's treatment including work disruptions.…”

“…Pediatric cancer–induced financial distress and its adverse effects on parents are well documented in systematic reviews 6,9‐11 . However, as frequently occurs in parenting research, 12,13 fathers have been underrepresented in published studies of pediatric cancer–induced financial distress.…”

Safety and family satisfaction of a home-delivered chemotherapy program for children with cancer

“…We hypothesize that the project might help reducing expenses for families due to fewer travels and less personal days taken from work for both parents, but also missed daycare or school days for healthy siblings. Financial disruption could have a substantial influence on parental distress during and after treatment of childhood cancer and must be carefully considered [25,26].…”

Safety and Family Satisfaction of a Home-Delivered Chemotherapy Program for Children with Cancer

“…However, we hypothesize that the project might help reducing expenses for families due to fewer travels and less personal days token from work for both parents. Financial disruption could have a substantial in uence on parental distress during and after treatment of childhood cancer: this issue should be assessed and discussed thoroughly and respectfully during the treatment phases 17,18 .…”