Surviving childhood cancer: parents' perceptions of their child's health.
The improving prognosis for children with cancer refocuses attention to long-term outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess whether changes in mothers' and fathers' perception of caregiving demands and well-being over a 1-year time period predicted parents' perception of their child's health at 12 months and to evaluate if these variables predicted change in health perceptions over a period of 1 year. Twenty Icelandic families of children younger than 18 years with cancer participated in the study. The change in general well-being over the year significantly predicted parents' perception of their child's health at 12 months; for the mothers, the change in well-being also predicted the changes in their perception of their child's health over the 1-year period. These findings suggest the importance of incorporating long-term health-related outcomes and measures to improve well-being among family members in future research and clinical practice, when caring for children and families surviving childhood cancer.
Svavarsdottir
Erla Kolbrun
EK
University of Iceland, Faculty of Nursing, Reykjavik, Iceland. eks@hi.is
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011336:Probability; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors; D013997:Time Factors