Tigelaar, L. (Leonie) (2016) Prevalence, severity and risk factors of fatigue and anxiety in children undergoing cancer treatment and/or HSCT. thesis, Medicine.
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Abstract
Introduction Since cure rates for childhood cancer have currently risen to greater than 80%, focus has expanded from disease treatment to quality of life and psychosocial aspects. Anxiety and fatigue are factors that could potentially affect the mental well-being of these children. Even though we know these symptoms to be prevalent and bothersome in adults with cancer, less is known about anxiety and fatigue in the pediatric oncology population. This study is therefore aimed at determining the prevalence, severity and risk factors of anxiety and fatigue in children undergoing cancer treatment and/or hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Methods This is a multicenter cross-sectional study in Canada and the USA. English-speaking children 8-18 years of age undergoing cancer treatment or HSCT were the primary respondents. Parents/guardians were given the option to participate. Participants completed a newly developed symptom screening tool called the Symptom Screening in Pediatrics Tool (SSPedi). SSPedi consists of 15 items on a 5-point Likert scale with scores ranging from 0 (‘not at all bothered’) to 4 (‘extremely bothered’). For this report, responses on items 2 (‘feeling scared/worried’) and 6 (‘feeling tired’) were evaluated. Prevalence of any anxiety or fatigue included children reporting scores between 1 and 4. Severe anxiety or fatigue was defined as a symptom score of 3 or 4. Results In this study, 230 children (mean age 12.6 ± 2.9 years) and 216 parents/guardians agreed to participate during the evaluation period for this report. Of all children, 36% and 6.1% reported to be bothered by any anxiety and severe anxiety respectively. Prevalences regarding fatigue were higher; 80% of the children were bothered by any fatigue and almost 20% were severely bothered by fatigue. As for the severity of these symptoms, most children reported to be not at all bothered by anxiety, as opposed to a little bothered by fatigue. Univariate analysis showed school status and presence of a relapse to be significant predicators for severe anxiety. Factors associated with severe fatigue included school status, time since diagnosis, reason of hospital visit and study group. Conclusion Anxiety and fatigue seem to not severely bother the majority of the pediatric oncology patients. However, there still is a group of children being highly affected by these symptoms. It is therefore important that the risk factors identified in this study are taken into account in future research on psychosocial well-being of this population. This way, children with cancer at risk for anxiety and fatigue can be identified and intervention options can be developed.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Thesis) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Faculty Supervisor: and Tissing, Dr. W.J.E. and Kallenberg, Prof. Dr. C.G.M. (GIPS-M) |
| Supervisor name: | Daily Supervisor: and Sung, Dr. L. and Child Health Evaluative Sciences and The Hospital for Sick Children, 686 Bay Street |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jun 2020 10:52 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2020 10:52 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/1335 |
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