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Quality of life in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: a systematic review
E Savage1, A O Riordan, M Hughes
1Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery, Brookfield Health Science Complex, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. e.savage@ucc.ie
Insights
Quality of life (QOL) in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is crucial. Studies show discrepancies between child and parent QOL reports, highlighting the need for better research methods.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Health Psychology
- Quality of Life Research
Background:
- Quality of life (QOL) is an important treatment outcome for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
- Systematic review needed to assess QOL research in children undergoing ALL treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review studies on QOL in children with ALL.
- To evaluate methodological quality, empirical findings, and discrepancies in QOL reports between children and parents.
Main Methods:
- Searches conducted in biomedical, psychological, and behavioral science databases.
- Inclusion criteria applied to identify relevant studies.
- Review focused on 4 cross-sectional and 2 qualitative studies.
Main Results:
- Limited consistency in QOL measurement and assessment across studies.
- Study quality often limited by small sample sizes and cross-sectional designs.
- Discrepancies observed between children's and parents' QOL reports in studies including child perspectives.
Conclusions:
- Need for longitudinal studies with larger sample sizes and child-reported QOL data in pediatric ALL.
- Requirement for theoretical development of QOL through concept analysis and grounded theory.
- Advancing QOL measurement methodology in pediatric ALL through theoretical clarification.
Abstract:
Quality of life (QOL) in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is now considered an important outcome measure of treatment for this disease. The aim of this paper is to systematically review studies on QOL in children during treatment for ALL with consideration to methodological details and quality of studies, empirical findings on QOL as reported by children and parents, and whether children and parents differ in their reports on QOL. Searches were conducted in biomedical, psychological and behavioural science databases. Six papers met inclusion criteria for review: 4 cross-sectional studies and 2 qualitative studies. There was little consistency in how QOL was measured or qualitatively assessed across studies. The quality of most studies was limited by small sample sizes and cross-sectional designs. Children's reports on QOL were represented in 3 studies and discrepancies were found between children's and parent's accounts of QOL. There is a need for ongoing research on QOL in children with ALL that use longitudinal designs, large sample sizes, and child reports of QOL. There is a need for theoretical development of the concept of QOL through concept analysis, grounded theory research and empirical validation of developing theory of QOL. Theoretical development of the concept of QOL will contribute to greater clarification of what is meant by QOL than currently exists which in turn has the potential to advance the methodology of measuring this concept in children.
