Nikitina T.P., Moiseenko Eu. I., Sabirova A.V., Kishtovich A.V., Ionova T.I.

Quality of life parameters in children aged 8-18 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in long term clinical and hematological remission

Quality of life research and determination of changes in health status in children with cancer in long-term off-treatment period is one of the priorities in pediatric oncology.
Quality of life assessment in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which is the most frequent type of cancer in children of 15 years old and younger, is worthwhile. The goal of this study was to compare quality of life parameters in children aged 8-18 with ALL in long-term off-treatment period and quality of life parameters in healthy children of the same age. The target group included children aged 8-12 (n=20) and aged 13-18 (n=34) with ALL in 5-years and longer off-treatment period. Healthy children of the similar age were involved in the control group.
Routine medical examination showed marked physical impairment in long-term cancer survivors. As a result, there were indicated significantly lower physical, role functioning and total scale score in long-term survivors (children self-report) and significantly lower physical, social functioning, psychosocial health summary score and total scale score (parent proxy-report) as compared to healthy children. Furthermore, children assessed their quality of life higher than their parents did. In summary, all findings confirm the importance of quality of life monitoring in children with cancer in long-term off-treatment period.
Quality of life assessment in this patient cohort provides comprehensive knowledge of different problems in physical, psychological and social well-being in children and might be of use while development of recommendations for quality of live improvement for children - long-term cancer survivors.