Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Children's Cancer Centre, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2022 Feb;69(2):e29400. doi: 10.1002/pbc.29400. Epub 2021 Oct 9.
We examined parents' perceptions of their child's oncology care during a period of significant COVID-19 restrictions in Australia.
Parents of children, 0-18 years, receiving hospital-based cancer treatment, completed a survey examining their COVID-19 exposure and impact, information and knowledge, and perception of their child's medical care. Recruitment occurred between October and November 2020.
Eighty-four parents (95% mothers) completed the survey. Sixty-seven percent of patients were diagnosed pre-COVID-19. The majority of parents (76%) reported negative impacts of COVID-19 on family life, including parenting and emotional well-being despite exposure to COVID-19 cases being very low (4%). Family functioning and parent birthplace were associated with COVID-19 impact and distress. Parents perceived the hospital as a safe place during the pandemic. Very few parents reported delaying presentation to the emergency department (12%). The majority identified no change (69%) or delay (71%) in their child's treatment delivery. Over 90% of parents were confident that COVID-19 did not impact medical decision-making. They felt confident in their COVID-19 knowledge and sought information from trusted sources. Parents reported a positive relationship with their child's care team (93%); however, access to some support services was reduced.
Understanding patient and family experiences of pediatric oncology care across international contexts during the pandemic is important to inform present and future health care responses. In the Australian context of low infection rates and strict community restrictions, parents perceived their child's oncology care to be relatively unaffected. However, findings indicate that family well-being was impacted, which warrants further investigation.
我们考察了在澳大利亚 COVID-19 限制措施实施期间，家长对其子女肿瘤学治疗的看法。
0-18 岁接受住院癌症治疗的儿童的家长完成了一项调查，该调查考察了他们的 COVID-19 暴露和影响、信息和知识，以及对子女医疗护理的看法。招募工作于 2020 年 10 月至 11 月进行。
84 名家长（95%为母亲）完成了调查。67%的患者在 COVID-19 之前被诊断出。尽管接触 COVID-19 病例的比例非常低（4%），但大多数家长（76%）报告 COVID-19 对家庭生活产生了负面影响，包括育儿和情绪健康。家庭功能和家长出生地与 COVID-19 的影响和困扰有关。家长认为医院在大流行期间是一个安全的地方。很少有家长报告延迟到急诊室就诊（12%）。大多数家长表示他们的孩子的治疗没有变化（69%）或延迟（71%）。超过 90%的家长认为 COVID-19 不会影响医疗决策。他们对自己的 COVID-19 知识有信心，并从可信来源获取信息。家长们表示与他们孩子的护理团队关系良好（93%）；然而，一些支持服务的可及性降低了。
了解大流行期间国际背景下儿科肿瘤学治疗中患者和家庭的经历，对于指导当前和未来的医疗保健应对措施非常重要。在澳大利亚感染率低且社区限制严格的情况下，家长认为他们子女的肿瘤学治疗相对未受影响。然而，调查结果表明，家庭福祉受到了影响，这需要进一步调查。
