Abstract
Nearly 80 new cases of pediatric cancer are diagnosed in Lithuania each year. Since 2005, we have been conducting a study evaluating the quality of life of children suffering from cancer in Lithuania. The participants were children between the ages of 2 and 18 years, diagnosed with oncologic diseases during the period from March 2005 to March 2006, and their parents. The PedsQL (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory(TM)) was used. This questionnaire is specifically designed for investigating the quality of life in children between the ages of 2 and 18 years. The PedsQL questionnaire is designed according to the level of cognitive activity of children and applied to children of four age groups: 2-4, 5-7, 8-12, and 13-18 years of age. The questionnaires were completed by children between the ages of 8 and 18 years in addition to parents of children from all age groups. The families of 63 children suffering from cancer participated in the study. A total of 44 children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 18 years and 53 parents (mother, father, close relative) filled out the questionnaire. Data from the study showed that children suffering from cancer (irrespective of their age) in addition to their parents evaluated their physical health as being worse than their psychosocial health. The parents had the opinion that children from all age groups experienced negative emotions: the younger children were afraid of giving blood for tests, whereas the older children were worried about the future. In the oldest age group of participants (13-18 years), children felt disease-related fatigue more often than their younger counterparts.
Highlights
80 new cases of pediatric cancer are diagnosed in Lithuania each year
Since 2005, we have been conducting a study evaluating the quality of life of children suffering from cancer in Lithuania
The PedsQL questionnaire is designed according to the level of cognitive activity of children and applied to children of four age groups: 2–4, 5–7, 8–12, and [13–18] years of age
Summary
Joana Makari[1, 2], Apolinaras Zaborskis[2], Liutauras Labanauskas[1], Lina Ragelienė3 1Kauno medicinos universiteto Vaikų ligų klinika, 2Biomedicininių tyrimų institutas, 3Vilniaus universiteto vaikų ligoninė. Nuo 2005 metų Lietuvoje pradėtas vaikų, sergančių onkologinėmis ligomis, gyvenimo kokybės tyrimas. Anketas savarankiškai pildo [8–18] metų vaikai ir paaugliai bei visų amžiaus grupių vaikų tėvai. Anketas užpildė 44 vaikai bei paaugliai, kurių amžius – nuo 5 iki 18 metų, ir 53 tėvai (motina, tėvas ar kitas artimas vaikui asmuo), kurie slaugė sergantį vaiką. Sergančių onkologinėmis ligomis, gyvenimo kokybės tyrimai Lietuvoje. Sergančių onkologinėmis ligomis, gyvenimo kokybė buvo bandoma tirti, tačiau iki šiol nebuvo atlikta išsami apklausa ir analizė. Šio straipsnio tikslas – įvertinti 2005–2006 metais onkologinėmis ligomis susirgusių [2–18] metų amžiaus vaikų gyvenimo kokybę. Per vienerius metus anketas užpildė 44 vaikai bei paaugliai, jų amžius – nuo 5 iki 18 metų ir 53 tėvai (motina, tėvas ar kitas artimas vaikui asmuo), kurie slaugė sergantį vaiką. PedsQL anketa susideda iš trumpų bendrųjų skalių, kurios gali būti taikomos tiriant sveikus vaikus ir vaikus, sergančius ūminėmis arba lėtinėmis ligomis
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