T.P. Nikitina, Eu.I. Moiseenko, G.E. Zaeva, A.V. Kishtovich, T.I. Ionova, A.A. Novik

Quality of life research in parents of children with cancer

The disease is suffering not only of children with cancer but of their parents. The aim of study was to compare QoL parameters in parents of children with cancer and QoL parameters in parents of children with chronic non-life-threatening diseases.
Parents of 2-18 yrs children with cancer (n=221; hematologic malignancies/solid tumors - 93/128) were enrolled in the study. The sample was divided into three groups: parents of children before-, on- and off-treatment, respectively.
For comparison a control group of parents of 2-18 yrs children with chronic non-life-threatening diseases, not cancer (n=43) was used. SF-36 was used for QoL assessment.
The integral QoL Index (IQLI) was calculated using the method of integral profiles (Novik A. et al., 2003). Statistical analysis was provided by ANOVA.
The values of IQLI in parents of children with cancer were much worse than of parents of children with chronic non-life-threatening diseases (.42 vs .54; p<.005). There were no significant differences between IQLI in parents of children with hematologic malignancies and parents of children with solid tumors.
The worst IQLI was observed in parents of children in on-treatment group (on-treatment/before-treatment/off-treatment - .37/.40/.46; p<.05). There were no significant differences between IQLI in parents of children depending of children's age. There were significant differences between IQLI in parent groups depending of marital status, housing conditions, level of income and parents' gender. Thus, QoL in parents of children with cancer is dramatically impaired.
The most severe impairment takes place during treatment of the children. The findings confirm the importance of QoL monitoring for the purpose to overall support of families having children with cancer.