title: Symptom occurrence and severity on the therapy-related symptom checklist for children among Hispanic pediatric oncology outpatients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A calibrated easy-to-use symptom checklist for children who are under treatment for cancer had been developed and reported in Cancer Nursing. The 30-item Therapy-Related Symptom Checklist for Children (TRSC-C) has good measurement and psychometric properties and uses "kid-friendly" terms to monitor symptom occurrence and severity during oncology treatment. A secondary analysis is reported using participants who self-identified as Hispanic.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to examine among Hispanic pediatric oncology outpatients (a) occurrence and (b) severity of symptoms reported on the TRSC-C, (c) relationships of symptoms to gender and age (<12 vs ≥12), and (d) differences in summated TRSC-C symptom scores between patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and other diagnoses.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional analysis using secondary data and descriptive statistics.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample was composed of 79 children (55% male) aged 5 to 17 years (mean, 10.3 years) with diagnosis of ALL (52%) or other (48%). Instrument used was TRSC-C by patient/parent report (Cronbach's α = .91).
  
  
  RESULTS
  (a) Symptom occurrence: 15 symptoms on the TRSC-C were reported by 40% or greater. (b) Severity means on 11 symptoms were greater than "a little bit." (c) No gender or age differences were found on mean TRSC-C summated scores. (d) Mean TRSC-C scores (symptom occurrence and severity) were slightly lower but not significantly different (t = 1.71) between ALL (13.71 [SD, 8.06]) and other diagnoses (15.71 [SD, 7.01]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Symptom occurrence and severity reported on the TRSC-C by this Hispanic subsample are consistent with findings in the calibration study and with those of another Hispanic group and other ethnicities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of the TRSC-C is appropriate during pediatric oncology treatment and diagnoses of Hispanic populations.
authors.affiliation: Author Affiliations: School of Nursing, University of Kansas, Kansas City (Dr P. Williams and Ms Robinson); School of Nursing, Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas (Ms Robinson); and Department of Health Policy & Management, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa (Dr A. Williams).
authors.forename: Phoebe D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Arthur R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D001066:Appetite; D057189:Checklist / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005221:Fatigue / Q000451:nursing; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010045:Outpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010290:Parents; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000208:ethnology / Q000451:nursing*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014839:Vomiting / Q000451:nursing