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Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Feeling scared or worried self-report in children receiving cancer treatments using the Symptom Screening in
Shannon Hyslop1, Deborah Tomlinson1, Christina Baggott2
1Program in Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A4, Canada.
Insights
Nearly half of children with cancer experience worry and fear. Inpatients receiving active treatment and girls reported more distress, while fever-related hospital visits were linked to severe worry.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Child Psychology
- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT)
Background:
- Fear and worry are common in pediatric cancer patients and HSCT recipients.
- Understanding the prevalence and contributing factors of this distress is crucial for supportive care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the extent of bother from fear or worry in children undergoing cancer treatment.
- To identify demographic and clinical factors associated with this psychological distress.
Main Methods:
- The Symptom Screening in Pediatrics Tool (SSPedi) was used to assess bother from fear/worry in 502 children (aged 8-18).
- Patients included those receiving active cancer treatment, maintenance chemotherapy, or in survivorship.
- Logistic regression analysis identified risk factors for reported bother.
Main Results:
- 45% of children reported some bother due to fear/worry (score ≥1); 5.8% reported severe bother (score ≥3).
- Boys were less likely to report bother (OR 0.60). Inpatients on active treatment reported more bother than survivorship outpatients (OR 3.58).
- Clinic visits or admissions for fever were associated with severe bother (OR 4.57).
Conclusions:
- 45% of pediatric cancer patients experience distress from fear and worry.
- Active treatment inpatients and girls reported higher levels of bother.
- Fever-related hospitalizations significantly increased severe bother, highlighting a need for targeted interventions.
Introduction:
The objectives of this study were to describe reports of bother for feeling scared or worried among children with cancer and pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients, and to identify factors associated with it.
Methods:
We included children receiving cancer treatments who were 8-18 years of age. Three patient types were enrolled: inpatients receiving active cancer treatment, outpatients receiving maintenance acute lymphoblastic leukemia chemotherapy, and outpatients in survivorship. Amount of bother due to feeling scared or worried yesterday or today was self-reported using the Symptom Screening in Pediatrics Tool (SSPedi) on a 0-4 scale. Risk factors were evaluated using logistic regression.
Results:
Among the 502 children included, 225 (45.0%) reported any degree of bother (score ≥ 1) and 29 (5.8%) reported severe bother (score ≥ 3) for feeling scared or worried. In multiple regression evaluating any bother, boys were less likely to be bothered (odds ratio (OR) 0.60, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41-0.87) and inpatients receiving active cancer treatment were more likely to be bothered compared to outpatients in survivorship (OR 3.58, 95% CI 2.00-6.52). The only factor associated with being severely bothered by feeling scared or worried was clinic visit or admission due to fever (OR 4.57, 95% CI 1.24-13.60).
Discussion:
We found 45% of children receiving cancer treatments reported being bothered by feeling scared or worried. Girls and inpatients receiving active treatment experienced more bother of any degree, while visiting the hospital due to fever was associated with being severely bothered. Future work should identify interventions to prevent or alleviate this symptom.
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