Relationships among therapy-related symptoms, depressive symptoms and quality of life in Hong Kong Chinese children hospitalized with cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUND: With advances in cancer screening and medical treatment, the cancer survival rates are higher than ever before. Yet, the course of treatment for cancer, in particular the adverse effects of cancer treatment are distressing, which may severely affect the quality of life of children. Whilst much of the attention has focused on medical treatment, the consequences of therapy-related symptoms on the psychological well-being and quality of life in children hospitalized with cancer remain relatively underexplored. AIMS: This study explored the relationships among therapy-related symptoms, depressive symptoms and quality of life in Hong Kong Chinese children hospitalized with cancer. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was employed. A total of 135 Hong Kong Chinese children (8-18-year olds) admitted for cancer treatment in a paediatric oncology unit were invited to participate. Participants were asked to respond to the Therapy-Related Symptom Checklist for Children (TRSC-C), Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQLTM 3.0 Cancer Module). RESULTS: The results of the study indicated that Hong Kong Chinese children hospitalized with cancer generally presented some depressive symptoms and reported poor health-related quality of life. Besides, there was a strong negative correlation between therapy-related symptoms and health-related quality of life. Conversely, there was a strong positive correlation between therapy-related symptoms and depressive symptoms. The findings indicate that children hospitalized with cancer reported greater symptom severity would report greater symptomatology of depression and experience poor quality of life. CONCLUSION: The study has addressed a gap in the literature by exploring the relationships among therapyrelated symptoms, depressive symptoms and quality of life in Hong Kong Chinese children hospitalized with cancer, an area of research that is under-represented in the existing literature. The findings reveal that treatment of cancer has tremendous impact on children's quality of life. There is an imperative need for nurses to evaluate appropriate nursing interventions that can help children ease the burden of cancer treatment, enhance their quality of life and provide support for them to fight cancer at every step of their long and difficult journey.