Determining, Ranking and Comparing Treatment Stressors in Children and Adolescents with Cancer in Tehran

Narges  Azizi; Ladan Mansour; Karineh Tahmassian; Farideh Mosavi

International Journal of Cancer Management

The Official Journal of Cancer Research Center (CRC), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

Outlines

Abstract
Copyright

Determining, Ranking and Comparing Treatment Stressors in Children and Adolescents with Cancer in Tehran

Author(s):

Narges Azizi^1,*,

Ladan Mansour¹,

Karineh Tahmassian²,

Farideh Mosavi³

1Faculty of Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2Family Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

3Dept. of Pediatrics, Shohada Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

International Journal of Cancer Management:Vol. 5, issue 3; e80815

Published online:Sep 30, 2012

Article type:Research Article

Received:Sep 11, 2011

Accepted:Mar 13, 2012

How to Cite:Narges AziziLadan MansourKarineh TahmassianFarideh MosaviDetermining, Ranking and Comparing Treatment Stressors in Children and Adolescents with Cancer in Tehran.Int J Cancer Manag.5(3):e80815.

Abstract

Background: Studies show that cancer treatment procedures could increase stress in children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer. This study was conducted to determine the frequency of stressors in children and adolescents with cancer, and to compare it in boys and girls.

Methods: Relevant information was collected via a structured interview with 70 children and their mothers. Subjects were divided into four age groups of 0-3; 4- 7; 8-12; 13-18. Stressors in physical, social and psychological aspects were determined and ranked. The main question asked was: "During the period of your disease, what has caused you the most suffering?" Whilst interviewing the mothers, this question was altered to:" During the period of your child's disease, what caused him/her to suffer the most?" The answers were reflected back to the respondents, and were categorized in a validated check list after their confirmation.

Results: The most stressing items in the 0 to 3 age group were found to be worry, pain due to treatment procedures, and separation from their immediate family. In 4 to 7 age group, they were procedural pain, worry and fatigue. For the 8 to 12 age group, pain, separation from family and worry were the most stressing items. For the 13 to 18 age group, the main stressors were worry, pain, and parting from friends and losing them. Analysis by "Mann-Whitney U test" showed no significant differences in stressors between girls and boys.

Conclusion: Our findings revealed that worry and procedural pain are the most common stressors in children treated for malignancy. Caregivers need to be aware of this fact and should take appropriate steps to relieve these stressors.

Keywords

Fulltext

Full text is available in PDF.

comments