Scarponi Dorella, Sarti Pierfrancesco, Rivi Veronica, Colliva Chiara, Marconi Elisa, Pession Andrea, Blom Johanna M C
Unità Operativa Pediatria Pession, IRSSC S. Orsola, 40138 Bologna, Italy.
Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41125 Modena, Italy.
Cancers (Basel). 2023 Jul 4;15(13):3496. doi: 10.3390/cancers15133496.
Pediatric cancer presents mental and physical challenges for patients and their caregivers. However, parental distress has been understudied despite its negative impact on quality of life, disability, and somatic disorders. Parents of oncopediatric patients experience high levels of suffering with their resilience tested throughout their children's illness. Identifying at-risk parents and offering specific treatments is crucial and urgent to prevent or alleviate negative outcomes.
This study used statistical and network analyses to examine symptom patterns assessed by the Kellner Symptom Questionnaire in 16 fathers and 23 mothers at different time points: diagnosis, treatment, and discharge.
The results indicated significantly higher distress levels in parents of oncopediatric children compared to the control reference population. Gender-specific differences in symptom profiles were observed at each time point, and symptoms showed a gradual but non-significant decrease over time.
The network analysis yielded valuable insights that, when applied in clinical practice, can guide the implementation of timely treatments to prevent and manage parental distress, thus addressing long-term, stress-related issues in primary caregivers of children diagnosed and treated for cancer.
儿科癌症给患者及其照顾者带来身心挑战。然而，尽管父母的痛苦对生活质量、残疾和躯体疾病有负面影响，但对其研究不足。肿瘤儿科患者的父母承受着巨大痛苦，在孩子患病期间其恢复力受到考验。识别有风险的父母并提供特定治疗对于预防或减轻负面结果至关重要且紧迫。
本研究使用统计分析和网络分析，以检查在诊断、治疗和出院等不同时间点，通过凯尔纳症状问卷对16名父亲和23名母亲评估的症状模式。
结果表明，与对照参考人群相比，肿瘤儿科患儿的父母痛苦水平显著更高。在每个时间点均观察到症状特征存在性别差异，且症状随时间呈逐渐但不显著的下降。
网络分析产生了有价值的见解，应用于临床实践时，可指导及时治疗的实施，以预防和管理父母的痛苦，从而解决癌症诊断和治疗儿童的主要照顾者中长期存在的、与压力相关的问题。
