Aspects of quality of life in pediatric lymphoma patients

Background. Quality of life (QL) is no less important question in modern oncohematology than longstanding survival rate and convalescence. Pediatric patients with lymphomas have high chances for recovery, that’s why it is important to provide a good QL during and after end of anti-cancer treatment. In Russia aspects of QL are not give up in pediatric oncohematology and used questionnaires are translated and poor adopted for our country.
The study objective is to evaluate parameters of QL in pediatric patients with lymphomas and their parents during anti-cancer treatment and to assign abilities for improvement of QL.
Materials and methods. From January 2018 to January 2020 fifty primary pediatric patients with lymphomas and fifty their parents were enrolled the study. All the patients were treated in the Chemotherapy Hemoblastoses Department No. 1 of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Research Institute of N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology of the Ministry of Health of Russia. The analysis of QL parameters was performed by Scale “Life satisfaction” of E. Diener, psycho-emotional tension was assessed by questionnaire “Your filling healthy” (for parents), mental activity, motivation, emotional tonus, psychic tension and comfort were analyzed by L.A. Kurgansky and T.A. Nemchin method.
Results. 50 % parents and 60 % of children with lymphomas had medium level of life satisfaction. High life satisfaction level was unusual for respondents of pediatric age (0 %) and parents (8 %). During anti-cancer treatment children had low mental activity (60 %), motivation (44 %) and emotional tonus (60 %). It should be noted that psychic tension level in 60 % of children also was low.
Conclusion. Anti-cancer treatment, stay in hospital, changed habitual condition favour to decrease QL of patients and their parents, which resulting in low mental activity, embrace of the world around, emotional tonus, not enough life satisfaction. For QL improvement it is necessary to work with psychologists, teachers, social workers, performing of art therapy. A large amount of work should be done with persons closest to child and parents, with whom they will communicate after end of treatment.

1. Valiev T.T. Burkitt lymphoma in children: 30 year treatment experience. Pediatriya. Zhurnal im. G.N. Speranskogo = Pediatrics n. a. G.N. Speransky 2020;99(4):35–41. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24110/0031-403X2020-99-4-35-42.

2. Belyayeva E.S., Susuyeva N.A., Valiev T.T. The importance of intensive chemotherapy for the treatment of children with common forms of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. RMZh. Mat’ i ditya = Russian Journal of Woman and Child Health 2020;3(2):149–53. (In Russ.).

3. Novik A.A., Ionova T.I., Nikitina T.P. Instruments for quality of life and symptoms assessment in pediatric oncology/hematology. Vestnik mezhnatsionalnogo tsentra issledovaniya kachestva zhizny = Bulletin of the International Center for Quality of Life Research 2011;17–18:83–6 (In Russ.).

4. Oishi S., Diener E., Suh E., Lucas R. Value as a moderator in subjective well-being. Journal of Personality 1999;67(1):157–84. DOI: 10.1111/1467-6494.00051.

5. Diener E. Subjective well-being. Psychol Bull 1984;95(3):542–75.

6. Osin E.N., Leontyev D.A. Brief Russian-language instruments to measure subjective wellbeing: psychometric properties and comparative analysis. Monitoring obschestvennogo mneniya: Ekonomicheskiye I sotsialniye peremeny = Public opinion monitoring: Economic and social changes 2020;1:117–42. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.14515/monitoring.2020.1.06.

7. Doskin V.A., Lavrentyeva N.A., Miroshnikov M.P., Sharay V.B. Test of differential self-assessment of functional state Voprosy Psikhologii = Questions of Psychology 1973;19(6):141–5. (In Russ.).

8. Ilʼin E.P. Psychology of individual differences. Saint Peterburg: Piter, 2011. 701 p. (In Russ.).

9. Varni J., Katz E., Seid M. et al. The Pediatric Cancer Quality of Life Inventory-32 (PCQL-32): I. Reliability and validity. Cancer1998;82(6):1184– 96. DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19980315)82:63.0.co;2-1.

10. Goodwin D.A., Boggs S.R., Graham-Pole J. Development and Validation of the Pediatric Oncology Quality of Life Scale. Psychol Ass 1994;6(4):321–8.

11. Varni J., Burwinkle T., Katz E. et al. The PedsQLTM in pediatric cancer: relia-bility and validity of the Pediatric Quality of Life InventoryTM Generic Core Scales, Multidimensional Fatigue Scale and Cancer Module. Cancer 2002;94(7):2090–106. DOI: 10.1002/cncr.10428.

12. Kopina O.S., Suslova E.A., Zaikin E.V. Psycho-emotional tension and its sources in the population of Klintsy, Bryansk region. Zdravoohraneniye Rossiyskoy Federatsii = Healthcare of the Russian Federation 1994;5:53–7. (In Russ.).

13. Methods of diagnostics of the emotional sphere. Psychological workshop. Compl. by O.V. Baranova. Issue 2. Krasnoyarsk: Litera-print, 2009. 237 p. (In Russ.).

14. Tomchuk A.L., Bravve Yu.I., Babenko A.I. The appeal of the population to the regional diagnostic center and self-assessment of health. Rossiyskaya akademiya meditsinskih nauk. Bulleten’ Natsionalnogo nauchnoissledova-telskogo instituta obschestvennogo zdorovya = Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. Bulletin of the National Research Institute of Public Health 2012;2:32. (In Russ.).

15. Kayumova M.M., Gafarov V.V., Smaznov V.Yu. et al. Self-assessment of health, attitude towards own health and medical care in male population. Mir nauky, kultury, obrazovaniya = The world of science, culture, education 2011;31(6 –1):179–85. (In Russ.).

16. Batyreva M.V., Selezneva T.A. Population satisfaction with the living conditions in the city as a factor of formation of the city image. Russian Economic Bulletin 2019;2(6):290–6. (In Russ.).