School of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Department of International and European Studies, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Eur J Pediatr. 2024 Jan;183(1):229-234. doi: 10.1007/s00431-023-05266-9. Epub 2023 Oct 21.
Cancer as a whole, but especially childhood cancer, creates a number of psychological, social, and family problems as well as practical and financial issues, which every parent is called upon to solve. This study focuses on childhood cancer and aims at a thorough analysis of the physical/organic, psychological, and social problems associated with the parents and relatives of a child with cancer. The special element in pediatric neoplasms is not only the vulnerable population target group, but also the set of secondary effects it has on the environment of the sick child. The research was conducted on a sample of 133 families of children with cancer, and the results were displayed after statistical processing and data analysis with R statistical software. The results of the study confirm with statistically significant data the effect of childhood cancer on the physical, mental, and social health and behavior of the parent. Thus, 53.8% of the respondents stated 5 and above on the 7-point Likert scale for fatigue issues, 55.6% for sleep disorders, 78.1% for stress, and 82.7% for fear. The key findings are characterized by high specificity as it is a unique study that reveals particular aspects of the Greek parent's behavior, mind, and body during the period of their child's illness. Conclusion: The effects of childhood illnesses, particularly when they are severe, such as neoplasms, present a looming threat, ushering in a multitude of adverse alterations in the daily lives of the affected child's family. What is Known - What is New: • We know the effects that a childhood illness brings not only to the sick child, but also to the entire family circle. The new element in the present research is that these data reflect the situation in Greece, for which the research data in this area is quite limited. Our research is one of the few studies that demonstrate with statistical data the change in the psychosomatic health of the parent who has a child with cancer.
癌症作为一个整体，但特别是儿童癌症，会带来许多心理、社会和家庭问题，以及实际和财务问题，每个父母都需要解决这些问题。本研究专注于儿童癌症，并旨在对与癌症儿童的父母和亲属相关的身体/器官、心理和社会问题进行全面分析。儿科肿瘤的特殊之处不仅在于脆弱的目标人群，还在于它对患病儿童环境产生的一系列次生影响。该研究在一个由 133 个癌症儿童家庭组成的样本上进行，结果经过统计处理和 R 统计软件数据分析后显示。研究结果以具有统计学意义的数据证实了儿童癌症对父母身体、心理和社会健康及行为的影响。因此，53.8%的受访者在 7 点李克特量表上对疲劳问题的回答为 5 及以上，55.6%的受访者对睡眠障碍，78.1%的受访者对压力，82.7%的受访者对恐惧。主要发现的特点是特异性高，因为这是一项独特的研究，揭示了希腊父母在孩子患病期间的行为、思维和身体的特定方面。结论：儿童疾病的影响，特别是当它们像肿瘤一样严重时，会带来严重威胁，给患病儿童家庭的日常生活带来许多不利变化。已知的-新的：•我们知道儿童疾病不仅会给患病儿童带来影响，还会给整个家庭带来影响。本研究的新元素是，这些数据反映了希腊的情况，因为这方面的研究数据相当有限。我们的研究是为数不多的几项研究之一，这些研究用统计数据证明了患有癌症儿童的父母的身心健康发生了变化。
