Supervisors info:
Περδικάρης Παντελεήμων, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Νοσηλευτικής, ΠΠ
Δούσης Ευάγγελος, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Νοσηλευτικής ΠΑΔΑ
Μοσχόβη Μαρία, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
BACKGROUND: The physical and psychological symptoms, experienced by children undergoing treatment, vary widely. The evaluation of the symptoms by the parents, who are the main caregivers of the children, is considered particularly important.
AIM: The purpose of this review of the international literature was to study the symptoms experienced by children with cancer who undergoing treatment, as identified and experienced by parents, who are the main caregivers of them from the time of diagnosis of the disease, treatment and after completion of treatment.
METHODOLOGY: A systematic review of the international literature was performed in the following databases PubMed, Cinahl and Scopus with the following keywords: chemotherapy, perspective, parent, cancer of childhood, radiotherapy, symptoms and treatment. Inclusion criteria were: (1) studies that evaluate the symptoms experienced by children with cancer undergoing treatment, as identified and experienced by the parents, (2) outcomes of the studies should be the symptoms experienced by children with cancer and (3) being primary studies and being published in English and Greek from 01/01/2010 to 31/12/2019.
RESULTS: From the review of the international literature, 246 studies emerged, 12 of which were included in the review. According to the parents' reports, the most common symptoms in children, were nausea, vomiting, fatigue, pain and loss of appetite. The most annoying-aggravating symptoms seemed to be pain, nausea, anxiety about taking treatment and its side effects, and abstaining from activities with friends. Comparing parent-child reports, grief and fatigue were reported more frequently by parents. In many cases, parents and children identified the same symptom but did not report the same frequency of its occurrence.
CONCLUSIONS: Children with cancer are facing a number of symptoms during or after treatment. Given that parents are the primary caregivers of children, it is of great importance that more studies should be conducted to assess the level of agreement between parent-child reports. Proper and in time recognition of symptoms contributes to their treatment and consequently to the improvement of the quality of their life.
Keywords:
Childhood Cancer, Parents, Perceptions, Symptoms, Treatment
