Health-related quality of life of toddlers during and after cancer treatment

Background: There is a knowledge gap regarding health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in childhood cancer patients below 2 years of age. The aim of this study was therefore to compare HRQOL of young children during and after treatment for cancer, to healthy controls, and to investigate effects of bi...

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Main Authors: Elin Irestorm, Raphaele R.L. van Litsenburg, Heleen Maurice-Stam, Kelly L.A. van Bindsbergen, Annelies M.C. Mavinkurve-Groothuis, Marita Partanen, Martha Grootenhuis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:EJC Paediatric Oncology
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772610X24000540
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author Elin Irestorm
Raphaele R.L. van Litsenburg
Heleen Maurice-Stam
Kelly L.A. van Bindsbergen
Annelies M.C. Mavinkurve-Groothuis
Marita Partanen
Martha Grootenhuis
author_facet Elin Irestorm
Raphaele R.L. van Litsenburg
Heleen Maurice-Stam
Kelly L.A. van Bindsbergen
Annelies M.C. Mavinkurve-Groothuis
Marita Partanen
Martha Grootenhuis
author_sort Elin Irestorm
collection DOAJ
description Background: There is a knowledge gap regarding health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in childhood cancer patients below 2 years of age. The aim of this study was therefore to compare HRQOL of young children during and after treatment for cancer, to healthy controls, and to investigate effects of biopsychosocial factors. Procedure: The study is based on data from an online monitoring program. Parent-proxy reports of HRQOL in 205 children aged 12–24 months were compared to 108 healthy children. The parents filled out the TNO-AZL Preschool Quality of Life questionnaire for young children, which consists of 12 subscales, in addition to a parental distress thermometer. Results: Participants undergoing treatment had less favorable HRQOL than children after treatment for eight of the subscales. They also had less favorable HRQOL than healthy children for seven scales, while the only significant difference between children off treatment and healthy controls was for motor functioning. For ten subscales, there were significant relationships between biopsychosocial variables and HRQOL outcomes. Parental distress and treatment with immunotherapy were the variables most frequently associated with lower HRQOL. Conclusions: Parental distress should be considered when monitoring young childhood cancer patients. Treatment with immunotherapy is likely to be a marker of disease severity and might represent other underlying factors affecting HRQOL. The association between immunotherapy and HRQOL therefore needs more research. While there was a significant difference depending on treatment status, it cannot be concluded that this represents an improvement in HRQOL after end of treatment.
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spelling doaj-art-c9743ec6725e498b971e26e09876fabb2024-12-13T11:08:32ZengElsevierEJC Paediatric Oncology2772-610X2024-12-014100194Health-related quality of life of toddlers during and after cancer treatmentElin Irestorm0Raphaele R.L. van Litsenburg1Heleen Maurice-Stam2Kelly L.A. van Bindsbergen3Annelies M.C. Mavinkurve-Groothuis4Marita Partanen5Martha Grootenhuis6Lund University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Paediatrics, Sweden; Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the NetherlandsPrincess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the NetherlandsPrincess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the NetherlandsPrincess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the NetherlandsPrincess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the NetherlandsPrincess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the NetherlandsPrincess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Correspondence to: Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, PO Box 85090, ,Utrecht 3508 AB, the Netherlands.Background: There is a knowledge gap regarding health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in childhood cancer patients below 2 years of age. The aim of this study was therefore to compare HRQOL of young children during and after treatment for cancer, to healthy controls, and to investigate effects of biopsychosocial factors. Procedure: The study is based on data from an online monitoring program. Parent-proxy reports of HRQOL in 205 children aged 12–24 months were compared to 108 healthy children. The parents filled out the TNO-AZL Preschool Quality of Life questionnaire for young children, which consists of 12 subscales, in addition to a parental distress thermometer. Results: Participants undergoing treatment had less favorable HRQOL than children after treatment for eight of the subscales. They also had less favorable HRQOL than healthy children for seven scales, while the only significant difference between children off treatment and healthy controls was for motor functioning. For ten subscales, there were significant relationships between biopsychosocial variables and HRQOL outcomes. Parental distress and treatment with immunotherapy were the variables most frequently associated with lower HRQOL. Conclusions: Parental distress should be considered when monitoring young childhood cancer patients. Treatment with immunotherapy is likely to be a marker of disease severity and might represent other underlying factors affecting HRQOL. The association between immunotherapy and HRQOL therefore needs more research. While there was a significant difference depending on treatment status, it cannot be concluded that this represents an improvement in HRQOL after end of treatment.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772610X24000540Quality of lifepatient reported outcome measuresinfants
spellingShingle Elin Irestorm
Raphaele R.L. van Litsenburg
Heleen Maurice-Stam
Kelly L.A. van Bindsbergen
Annelies M.C. Mavinkurve-Groothuis
Marita Partanen
Martha Grootenhuis
Health-related quality of life of toddlers during and after cancer treatment
EJC Paediatric Oncology
Quality of life
patient reported outcome measures
infants
title Health-related quality of life of toddlers during and after cancer treatment
title_full Health-related quality of life of toddlers during and after cancer treatment
title_fullStr Health-related quality of life of toddlers during and after cancer treatment
title_full_unstemmed Health-related quality of life of toddlers during and after cancer treatment
title_short Health-related quality of life of toddlers during and after cancer treatment
title_sort health related quality of life of toddlers during and after cancer treatment
topic Quality of life
patient reported outcome measures
infants
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772610X24000540
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