Investigating the physical and psychosocial problems in children of parents with cancer

Abstract Background: The occurrence of chronic diseases such as cancer in parents lead to family problems especially among children, therefore, the assessment of these problems are essential in improving the family quality of life and their health. Objective: To assess the physical and psychosocial problems of children aged between 6-12 with parents suffering from cancer who were referred to Nemazee hospital in Shiraz during ‏2005. Methods: This was a descriptive analytical study performed on 100 children between 6-12 years old using the standard child behavior checklist to determine the presence or absence of disorder in performance, communication, education, fear and sleep. The data were collected through interview sessions with parents followed by statistical analysis using chi square test, Fisher exact test, and Pearson correlation coefficient. Findings: Our findings revealed that 49% of children suffered physical problems whereas fear, regressive behavior, and sleep disorder were detected in 37%, 72%, and 32%, respectively. Regarding the social problems, 63% of children showed performance problems, 61% communication problems, and 38% educational problems. Statistically, significant correlations were found between the age of children and their educational problems (p=0.03), the parents’ gender and the occurrence of physical problems (p=0.01), and the duration of disease in parents and physical problems (p=0.01). Conclusion: Based on findings of the present study, it was shown that the existence of life- threatening disease in parents leads to stress and disturbance in normal process of family especially among their children causing physical and psychosocial problems. Hence, the need for counseling with children and parents seems to be obvious and of prime priority.