Eu. I. Moiseenko, T. P. Nikitina, K. A. Kurbatova, T. I. Ionova

Quality of life in childhood cancer survivors and in their parents

The childhood cancer survivors have a significant decrease in physical, emotional and social functioning. Their quality of life (QoL) is often much more impaired than the QoL of children with non-malignant diseases. The difference in QoL parameters depends on the age of patients.

In long-term survivors (1-5 years) patient-reported outcomes are better than within less than one year of complete remission. The parents of childhood cancer survivors have shown lower psychosocial functioning level, in comparison with the parents of children with non-malignant diseases.

The QoL of parents whose children have reached complete remission correlates with their child's overall QoL. At the same time, the QoL of parents is not influenced by the age of the child, the remission period, the primary origin of the tumor or by social aspects.