Late Effects, Social Adjustment, and Quality of Life in Adolescent Survivors of Childhood Leukemia

Abstract

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine the late effects, social adjustment, and quality of life in adolescents who had been completely treated for childhood leukemia and their parents. Methods: Participants consisted of 41 pairs of adolescent survivors (13-18 years) and their parents. Parents checked for their child's physical late effects. The Korean Version of Post-Traumatic Symptoms for psychological late effects, social functioning questionnaire for social adjustment and the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales for quality of life were completed by adolescents and parents. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: Twenty out of 41 adolescents had one or more physical late effects. Adolescents showed more serious psychological late effect than parents. Five children and seven parents had above cut-off scores and they were considered the high risk group for posttraumatic symptoms. Parent-reported scores were significantly higher than child-reported scores in terms of social adjustment and emotional functioning of quality of life. Low school functioning in adolescents was associated with physical late effects. Conclusion: The results indicate that long-term and systematic management for childhood leukemia survivors affect positive social adjustment and can further improve quality of life. If the original work is properly cited and retained without any modification or reproduction, it can be used and re-distributed in any format and medium.

Retinal changes in patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia (all): discussion of topic from a case report

“…A alteração do nervo óptico em todas as variantes da leu19cemia, embora seja mais comum na LLA, na infância, é constituída por uma urgência oftalmológica, já que o seu comprometimento tem impacto na visão do paciente. (21) A infiltração do nervo óptico foi relatada em 5% a 13% dos pacientes com leucemia. (22) Camera et al (23) observaram que a infiltração do nervo óptico leucêmico ocorre em 1,4% dos casos pediátricos com LLA.…”

“…Assim, de início, o tumor pode ser visto surgindo diretamente da papila, associado a uma lenta e progressiva piora da acuidade visual, ou ser evidenciado mais tardiamente um edema de papila (Figuras 39, 40) (16) associado a uma rápida piora da acuidade visual. (21) Quando ocorre dano ao nervo óptico, diz-se que aconteceu infiltração no sistema nervoso central; tendo o paciente uma sobrevida de 50% aos 6 meses, enquanto que em um ano, o óbito é de até 90%. (23) Outra consideração relevante é a conduta a ser utilizada, já que, a porção intra-orbitária do nervo óptico está fora do escopo da quimioterapia devido à barreira hemato-ocular, assim, a radioterapia externa, tem que ser avaliada (25) .…”

The Experiences of Korean Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer

“…A number of studies have examined the quality of life and psychosocial issues of childhood cancer survivors across different ethnic groups (Chan et al, 2014; Phillips & Jones, 2014; Zebrack & Landier, 2011), but there is a lack of understanding about the experiences of understudied ethnic groups such as Koreans. Recently, there have been more quantitative (e.g., Chung, Lee, Ryu, Han, & Kim, 2012; Hong, Park, Kim, & Choi, 2014; Oh, Lee, Kim, & Park, 2013; Rhee et al, 2014) and qualitative studies (e.g., Nam & Choi, 2013; You, 2006) on the psychosocial adjustment of childhood cancer survivors. Consistent with other findings, two authors of this article found in their previous studies that social stigma, in the form of bullying, harassment, prejudicial insults, avoidance, isolation, and employment discrimination, was common for Korean childhood cancer survivors (Kim, Yi, & Kim, 2014).…”