Social activities in the families of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The social activities of 15 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and their families (index families) were compared during chemotherapy with those of control families matched for the numbers, ages, and sex of the children. Data concerning the day care arrangements for the children of all the index and control families were obtained by a questionnaire. The children under school age in the index families were more frequently cared for at home or in a family than were those in the control families (14/14 vs 13/26, P < 0.01). All visits made, visitors received, and gatherings of 12 index and 12 control families were recorded by means of diaries during two 4-week periods in May and September 1989. The adults and children in the ALL families made an average of 5.5 and 3.4 visits per person, respectively, during each 4-week period, with the corresponding figures for the control families being 5.4 and 4.4. The mean number of adult and child guests in the index and the control families and the corresponding figures for visits were similar. The mean numbers of adults and children present at places visited by an index and control family did not differ statistically significantly, and the mean number of gatherings attended per adult and child during a period of 4 weeks was also similar in both groups of families. The differences were found in day care arrangements, but social activities as recorded by visits and gatherings were similar in the families of the children with ALL and the controls.