Department of Nursing Studies, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Cancer Nurs. 2010 Jan-Feb;33(1):47-54. doi: 10.1097/NCC.0b013e3181aaf0fa.
The diagnosis and treatment of cancer are a stressful and threatening experience, which can be emotionally devastating to children. Despite the improved prognosis, the course of cancer treatment has tremendous impact on children. This article aims to examine the impact of cancer on physical, emotional, and psychosocial well-being of Hong Kong Chinese children, an area of research that has been underrepresented in the literature. Ninety-eight Hong Kong Chinese children aged 7 to 15 years, admitted for treatment of cancer in 2 pediatric oncology units of 2 different hospitals, were invited to participate in the study. Findings from this study indicated that the children scored considerably high state anxiety on admission, and more than half of the participants presented some depressive symptoms during their stay in the hospital. Moreover, semistructured interviews indicated that nearly all children expressed different degrees of sadness and worry. The findings suggested that there is a room for improvement in existing nursing intervention regarding preparing children for hospitalization and treatment of cancer. There is an imperative need for nurses to evaluate appropriate nursing interventions that can help children resume their normal growth and development, in particular, to help them ease the physical, emotional, and psychological burden of life-threatening disease.
癌症的诊断和治疗是一种压力大且具有威胁性的经历，会给儿童带来情感上的毁灭性打击。尽管预后有所改善，但癌症治疗过程对儿童的影响是巨大的。本文旨在研究癌症对香港华裔儿童身心健康的影响，这一领域的研究在文献中代表性不足。本研究邀请了 98 名年龄在 7 至 15 岁之间、因癌症在 2 家不同医院的 2 个儿科肿瘤病房接受治疗的香港华裔儿童参与研究。研究结果表明，这些儿童在入院时的状态焦虑得分相当高，超过一半的参与者在住院期间出现了一些抑郁症状。此外，半结构化访谈表明，几乎所有的孩子都表达了不同程度的悲伤和担忧。研究结果表明，在为儿童准备住院和癌症治疗方面，现有的护理干预措施有改进的空间。护士迫切需要评估适当的护理干预措施，以帮助儿童恢复正常的生长和发育，特别是帮助他们减轻危及生命的疾病带来的身体、情感和心理负担。
