Differences in Parent-Provider Concordance Regarding Prognosis and Goals of Care Among Children With Advanced Cancer

Differences in Parent-Provider Concordance Regarding Prognosis and Goals of Care Among Children With Advanced Cancer

Rosenberg AR; Orellana L; Kang TI; Geyer JR; Feudtner C; Dussel V; Wolfe J

Journal Of Clinical Oncology

2014

Purpose Concordance between parents of children with advanced cancer and health care providers has not been described. We aimed to describe parent-provider concordance regarding prognosis and goals of care, including differences by cancer type. Patients and Methods A total of 104 pediatric patients with recurrent or refractory cancer were enrolled at three large children’s hospitals. On enrollment, their parents and providers were invited to complete a survey assessing perceived prognosis and goals of care. Patients’ survival status was retrospectively abstracted from medical records. Concordance was assessed via discrepancies in perceived prognosis, κ statistics, and McNemar’s test. Distribution of categorical variables and survival rates across cancer type were compared with Fisher’s exact and log-rank tests, respectively. Results Data were available from 77 dyads (74% of enrolled). Parent-provider agreement regarding prognosis and goals of care was poor (κ, 0.12 to 0.30). Parents were more likely to report cure was likely (P < .001). The frequency of perceived likelihood of cure and the goal of cure varied by cancer type for both parents and providers (P < .001 to .004). Relatively optimistic responses were more common among parents and providers of patients with hematologic malignancies, although there were no differences in survival. Conclusion Parent-provider concordance regarding prognosis and goals in advanced pediatric cancer is generally poor. Perceptions of prognosis and goals of care vary by cancer type. Understanding these differences may inform parent-provider communication and decision making.

2014-07

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