Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa.
Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Caring Science, Work Life and Social Welfare, University of Borås, 501 90 Borås, Sweden.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 16;18(4):1911. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18041911.
Anxiety has been identified as one of the most severe and long-lasting symptoms experienced by hospitalized children with cancer. Self-reports are especially important for documenting emotional and abstract concepts, such as anxiety. Children may not always be able to communicate their symptoms due to language difficulties, a lack of developmental language skills, or the severity of their illness. Instruments with sufficient psychometric quality and pictorial support may address this communication challenge. The purpose of this review was to systematically search the published literature and identify validated and reliable self-report instruments available for children aged 5-18 years to use in the assessment of their anxiety to ensure they receive appropriate anxiety-relief intervention in hospital. What validated self-report instruments can children with cancer use to self-report anxiety in the hospital setting? Which of these instruments offer pictorial support? Eight instruments were identified, but most of the instruments lacked pictorial support. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL™) 3.0 Brain Tumor Module and Cancer Module proved to be useful in hospitalized children with cancer, as they provide pictorial support. It is recommended that faces or symbols be used along with the VAS, as pictures are easily understood by younger children. Future studies could include the adaptation of existing instruments in digital e-health tools.
焦虑已被确定为住院癌症患儿最严重和最持久的症状之一。自我报告对于记录情绪和抽象概念（如焦虑）尤为重要。由于语言障碍、缺乏发育性语言技能或疾病的严重程度，儿童可能无法始终能够表达他们的症状。具有足够心理测量质量和图像支持的工具可能会解决这种沟通挑战。本综述的目的是系统地搜索已发表的文献，确定 5-18 岁儿童可用的经过验证和可靠的自我报告工具，以用于评估他们的焦虑症，确保他们在医院得到适当的焦虑缓解干预。患有癌症的儿童可以使用哪些经过验证的自我报告工具在医院环境中自我报告焦虑？这些工具中哪些提供图像支持？确定了八种工具，但大多数工具都缺乏图像支持。视觉模拟量表（VAS）和儿科生活质量（PedsQL™）3.0 脑肿瘤模块和癌症模块被证明对住院癌症儿童有用，因为它们提供图像支持。建议在 VAS 上使用面部或符号，因为年幼的孩子更容易理解图片。未来的研究可以包括将现有工具改编为数字电子健康工具。
