The Influence of Developmental Stage on the Relationship Between Severity of Late Effects of Anticancer Therapy and Perceived Quality of Life of Childhood Cancer Survivors

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the relationship between severity of late effects and subjective quality of life of childhood cancer survivors in different age brackets. The sample consisted of 147 cancer survivors (70 boys and 77 girls) aged 8 to 18 who were in remission 2 to 5 years. The analyses were carried out separately for younger (8-12 years) and older (13-19 years) age groups. Cancer survivors were asked to complete Minnesota–Minneapolis Quality of Life Instrument (MMQL) as well as other methods of measuring involvement in everyday life activities and parent–child interactions Social And Health Assessment (SAHA) were used. Severity of late effects was assessed on a 4-point scale in accordance with Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v3.0. While severity of late effects correlated positively only with parental warmth in younger age bracket, there were many relationships between severity of late effects and quality of life in older age bracket. The difference between the two age brackets is explained by the fact that adolescents are able to assess the impact of the disease.