Earle Emily Anne, Eiser Christine
University of Sheffield, UK.
Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007 Apr;12(2):281-93. doi: 10.1177/1359104507075935.
Survival rates for children with cancer have improved significantly, but lengthy and painful treatments compromise the quality of life of children and their families. The aim of this article is to describe children's behaviour and coping over the 2- or 3-year-course of treatment. We interviewed 32 mothers of children newly diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) shortly following diagnosis, 1 and 2 years later. Thematic analysis was used to extract themes related to adjustment and behaviour. The results were organized separately for children in three age groups: 0-4 years, 5-9 years and 10-14 years. Mothers described children in the 0-4-year age group as adjusting well, and attributed this to their limited understanding and ability to integrate treatments into normal life. Children in the 5-9-year group were adjusting less well, experiencing social problems and worries about appearance. Older children (10-14 years) adjusted least well. Many withdrew socially and were concerned about the need to look and feel normal. These findings will be useful for parents and clinicians in identifying typical behaviours of children coping with ALL. They also have implications for the development of child-centred age-specific measures of quality of life in children treated for ALL.
癌症患儿的存活率已显著提高，但漫长而痛苦的治疗会影响患儿及其家庭的生活质量。本文旨在描述患儿在两到三年治疗过程中的行为及应对方式。我们对32名急性淋巴细胞白血病（ALL）新确诊患儿的母亲进行了访谈，分别在确诊后、1年及2年后进行。采用主题分析法提取与适应和行为相关的主题。结果按三个年龄组分别整理：0至4岁、5至9岁和10至14岁。母亲们称0至4岁年龄组的患儿适应良好，将其归因于他们理解有限，且将治疗融入正常生活的能力有限。5至9岁组的患儿适应较差，出现社交问题并担心外貌。年龄较大的患儿（10至14岁）适应最差。许多患儿在社交上退缩，且担心需要看起来和感觉正常。这些发现将有助于家长和临床医生识别应对ALL的患儿的典型行为。它们也对制定以儿童为中心的、针对ALL治疗患儿的特定年龄生活质量衡量标准具有启示意义。
