The Health-Related Quality of Life of South African Paediatric In-patients with Cancer

Abstract

Introduction: In the South African public health system, children with cancer are admitted to specialised oncology units for the duration of their treatment. These units therefore become the children's temporary living environment for varying periods of time, which may disrupt their participation in daily activities and consequently their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Aim: The purpose of the study was to determine the HRQoL of children admitted with cancer from both their own and their parents' perspective. Methodology: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Gauteng with a specialist oncology unit. Structured interviews were conducted with the children aged 8-12 years using the PedsQL TM Generic Core Scale (4.0) and Cancer Module (3.0). The parent's perspective was explored using the Parents proxy forms of both instruments. Results: Twenty-five children and their parents participated in the study. Most children in the sample were males with Leukaemia. All children and parents reported the children's functioning at an intermediate level which suggests that these children may be at risk for HRQoL deficits. Children's HRQoL was impacted by psychosocial functioning and change in schooling on the PedsQL TM Generic Core Scale (4.0), while parents felt physical functioning played a greater role in determining the child's HRQoL. On the PedsQL TM Cancer Module (3.0) both the children and parents felt that 'procedural anxiety' had an effect, although from the parents' perspective, 'worry' accounted for the greatest deficits in their children's HRQoL. Conclusion:This study indicates that occupational disruption is experienced by children during the long-term treatment of cancer. It is suggested that occupational therapists use available instruments to monitor and provide support for the effect of an impaired HRQoL.

Childhood deprivation and Health related quality of life and associated factors among Pediatric cancer patients at National Hospital, Tanzania

“…In addition, most of them had not attended school because they did not feel well connected to cancer and its treatments and went to the doctor or hospital. However, participated in various activities in the last three months, including school/study, which is reliable with the current study not attending school for < months and continued in the last 30 days [24].…”

“…The following formula adopted from Cochran (1977) was used to determine the minimum sample size (n) by mean that was required for this study. A convenient sampling technique was used to recruit pediatric cancer patients aged 5 to 18 years who already completed an induction course of cancer therapy (Tembe et al, 2021). The patient's files were used to find the diagnosis, phase, and types of cancer treatment of the child before recruitment.…”

“…The child report form for children completed as self-administered interview questions. (24,37). Items are scored on a 5-point response scale where by (0 = never a problem, 1 = almost never a problem, 2 = sometimes a problem, 3 = often a problem, 4 = almost always a problem).…”

“…The copyright holder for this this version posted November 1, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.10.26.22281579 doi: medRxiv preprint measures all pediatrics with various chronic diseases and Cancer module 3.0 is the specific for pediatric cancer patients and measure the severity of the disease [18,23,24].…”

Health Related Quality Of Life (HRQOL) Among Patients With Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia In Saudi Arabia: Cross- Sectional Study.

“…The overall HRQOL of the participants ts into three categories, High (16%) intermediate (38%) poor (46%) which represents the majority of the patients (7) . As demonstrated in Table 2, The lowest scores of sub-scales that have affected HRQOL shown as mean were procedural anxiety (41.47), treatment anxiety (58.33) and worry (62.75), while the three highest subscale scores were 69.50 (communication), 68.84 (cognitive problems), and 66.50 (perceived physical appearance) were the maximum mean value is 100.…”