Chai Carmen Wang Er, Lau Bee Theng, Tee Mark Kit Tsun, Al Mahmud Abdullah
Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology - Sarawak Campus, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.
School of Design and Architecture, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Digit Health. 2022 Nov 1;8:20552076221134457. doi: 10.1177/20552076221134457. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.
Childhood cancer patients need to have good treatment adherence. Unfortunately, treatment non-adherence often occurs due to high side-effect burdens of treatment and the lack of knowledge of one's illness and treatment. Therefore, a serious game intervention based on the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) was designed and developed to motivate childhood cancer patients to undergo treatment and to motivate them to undergo treatment, perform daily self-care and educate them about their illness.
Childhood cancer patients (6-17 years old) and their caregivers were recruited in a multi-centre, single-arm intervention in Malaysia. A total of 24 child-caregiver dyads have completed the study. This study used PMT-based surveys to collect quantitative data regarding children's motivation to adhere to treatment and perform daily self-care. Additionally, a 20-question multiple-choice quiz was used to determine children's knowledge levels. These surveys were conducted pre-test and post-test. Children's and caregivers' feedback were also gathered post-test as qualitative data.
The results showed that overall, the children's intention to undergo cancer treatment had increased significantly. A significant increase in the intention to perform daily self-care was found among younger children, while older children showed significant improvement in their cancer knowledge levels. The post-test feedback suggested that the game was liked by both children and caregivers and it provided various benefits to children with cancer.
Findings suggest that the intervention has the potential to improve childhood cancer patients' motivation for treatment adherence and daily self-care, in addition to educating them about cancer and treatment.
儿童癌症患者需要有良好的治疗依从性。不幸的是，由于治疗的副作用负担过重以及对自身疾病和治疗缺乏了解，治疗不依从的情况经常发生。因此，设计并开发了一种基于保护动机理论（PMT）的严肃游戏干预措施，以激励儿童癌症患者接受治疗，并促使他们接受治疗、进行日常自我护理以及了解自身疾病。
在马来西亚进行的一项多中心、单臂干预研究中招募了6至17岁的儿童癌症患者及其照顾者。共有24对儿童-照顾者完成了该研究。本研究使用基于PMT的调查问卷收集有关儿童坚持治疗和进行日常自我护理动机的定量数据。此外，还使用了一份包含20道选择题的测验来确定儿童的知识水平。这些调查在干预前和干预后进行。干预后还收集了儿童和照顾者的反馈作为定性数据。
结果显示，总体而言，儿童接受癌症治疗的意愿显著提高。较年幼的儿童在进行日常自我护理的意愿方面有显著增加，而较年长的儿童在癌症知识水平方面有显著提高。干预后的反馈表明，儿童和照顾者都喜欢这款游戏，并且它为癌症患儿带来了各种益处。
研究结果表明，该干预措施除了能让儿童癌症患者了解癌症和治疗相关知识外，还有可能提高他们坚持治疗和进行日常自我护理的积极性。
