The course of life of survivors of childhood cancer

Abstract

The developmental consequences in adulthood of growing up with childhood cancer are not well understood. The Course of life questionnaire was developed to assess the attainment of developmental milestones retrospectively and socio-demographic outcomes in young adulthood. The aim of this study was to assess the course of life and socio-demographic outcomes in young adult survivors of childhood cancer. Knowledge about possible gaps in the course of life could enable health care providers to aim for the most favourable course of life. A total of 353 Dutch survivors and a comparison group of 508 peers without a history of cancer, all aged between 18 and 30, filled in the Course of life questionnaire. The course of life of the survivors was found to be hampered. The young adult survivors of childhood cancer in the Netherlands turned out to have achieved fewer milestones than their peers with respect to autonomy development, social development, and psycho-sexual development, or to have achieved the milestones when they were older than their peers. In addition, survivors displayed less risk behaviour than the comparison group. The survivors and the comparison group also differed on some socio-demographic issues. A considerably lower percentage of survivors than peers in the comparison group were married or living together, and/or employed. Their educational level, on the other hand, was as high as that of their peers.

The impact of delayed development on the quality of life of adults with end-stage renal disease since childhood

“…First, the items are based on the literature and clinical experience. Second, the results among a normative population of 508 young adults from the general Dutch population proved to be in line with several datasets of the Dutch population [11,12]. The test-retest reliability is good (r≥0.86) [13].…”

“…This Dutch instrument was developed by the Psychosocial Department of the Emma Children's Hospital/Academic Medical Centre in order to be able to investigate the course of life of young adults, aged 18-30 years, who have grown up with a chronic or lifethreatening disease, and to facilitate comparison with the course of life of peers without a history of disease [11]. Reference values were obtained from 508 young adults, aged 18-30 years, from the general population [11,12].…”

Health‐related quality of life in children and emotional reactions of parents following completion of cancer treatment

“…Unfortunately, the reliability of the social functioning scale of the TACQOL was moderate. This is a very interesting domain in our opinion, because recent research revealed that the social development of young adult long-term survivors of childhood cancer was hampered [31].…”

Are there any positive consequences of childhood cancer? A review of the literature

“…This may explain why survivors report a preference for interacting with others [31] and more positive emotions when interacting with others [31] than comparison groups. Trying to fit in with their former social life, survivors may be eager to present themselves favourably [42], and may exhibit less antisocial [63], aggressive and disruptive behaviour [65] than comparison groups. However, most results with regard to friendship demonstrate poorer function regarding friendship [41] as well as lower satisfaction regarding friendship [31] for survivors as compared to comparison groups.…”

“…See Table III for a presentation of results in studies with a comparative design with regard to this theme. A more positive attitude towards the family [43], a preference for interacting with others [31], more positive emotions when interacting with others [31], better social relationships [43], and less anti-social behaviour [63] than for comparison groups were expressed by self-reports. Teachers reported less aggressive and disruptive behaviour for survivors than for a comparison group [65].…”