Burden of treatment in the face of childhood cancer: A quantitative study using medical records of deceased children

Burden of treatment in the face of childhood cancer: A quantitative study using medical records of deceased children

Rost M; Wangmo T; Rakic M; Acheson E; Rischewski J; Hengartner H; Kuhne T; Elger B S

European Journal of Cancer Care (Engl)

2018

Adaptation; Adolescent; burden of treatment; Central Nervous System Neoplasms/therapy; Child; Death; family; Female; Hospitalization; Humans; Infant; inpatient stays; Length of Stay; leukaemia; Leukemia/therapy; Male; Medical Records; Neoplasms/*therapy; Newborn; paediatric oncology; place of death; Preschool; Psychological; Retrospective Studies; Switzerland; Terminal Care

Lived experiences of childhood cancer patients and their families have been described as interrupted and as a loss of normal life. Apart from symptoms due to the cancer disease, families continuously experience burden of treatment. Since coping capacities are unique to each individual, we captured variables that offer objective measures of treatment burden, with a particular focus on the disruptive effects of treatment on families' lives. Our sample was comprised by 193 children that died of cancer. Medical records were extracted retrospectively. Quantitative data were statistically analysed with respect to variables related to treatment burden. Deceased children with cancer and their families faced a significant burden of treatment. Results revealed that deceased leukaemia patients had a higher number of inpatient stays, spent more time in the hospital both during their illness and during the last month of their life, and were more likely to die in the hospital when compared to deceased patients with CNS neoplasms and with other diagnoses. Our findings highlight the disruptive effects of treatment that are likely to have a great impact on families' daily life, that go beyond exclusively focusing on side effects, and that needs to be taken into account by the treating staff.

Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Oncology 2019 List