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Quality of life in pediatric oncology patients, caregivers and siblings after psychosocial screening: a randomized controlled trial

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Abstract

Objective

We evaluated whether conducting psychosocial screening using a validated measure (the Psychosocial Assessment Tool, PAT) and providing a summary of PAT results to the patient’s treating team improves quality of life (QOL) in newly diagnosed patients with cancer, their caregivers and siblings, in general, and in relation to the initial family psychosocial risk.

Methods

Families were randomly allocated to an intervention (IG, treating team received PAT summary describing low, medium, or high psychosocial risk) or control group (CG, no summary provided to treating team) in two Canadian pediatric cancer centers. Caregivers (N = 122) of children newly diagnosed with cancer, patients (n = 36), and siblings (n = 25) completed QOL assessments at 2–4 weeks (T1) and 6 months post-diagnosis (T2). Caregivers also completed PAT and proxy QOL for patient and sibling.

Results

In general, patient-proxy total QOL improved in IG compared to CG over time but only for high psychosocial risk patients (p < .05). Patient proxy cancer-related QOL improved over time regardless of group allocation; caregiver QOL also improved over time (ps < .05).

Conclusion

This study demonstrated the benefits of psychosocial screening results only on proxy patient QOL outcomes with high psychosocial risk near diagnosis. Evaluating QOL benefits in pediatric oncology patients is critical for establishing the clinical value of psychosocial screening.

Clinical Trial Registration Number: NCT02788604 (registered with https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02788604)

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Funding

This work was supported by the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute (CCSRI, grant number 702843).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Haematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada

    Maru Barrera, Sarah Alexander, Wendy Shama & Denise Mills

  2. Psychology Department, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X8, Canada

    Maru Barrera, Kelly Hancock, Aden Solomon & Leandra Desjardins

  3. Biostatistics Department, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada

    Eshetu Atenafu

  4. Social Work Department, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada

    Wendy Shama

  5. Psychology Department, British Columbia Women and Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada

    Joanna Chung

Authors
  1. Maru Barrera
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  2. Kelly Hancock
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  3. Eshetu Atenafu
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  4. Sarah Alexander
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maru Barrera.

Ethics declarations

All procedures were approved by the institutional Research Ethics Boards at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto (no. 1000047753) and British Columbia Women and Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada (H15-00826), serving both urban and rural areas.

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Barrera, M., Hancock, K., Atenafu, E. et al. Quality of life in pediatric oncology patients, caregivers and siblings after psychosocial screening: a randomized controlled trial. Support Care Cancer 28, 3659–3668 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-05160-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-05160-x

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