Although sleep is essential for (recovery of) health, it is adversely affected by hospitalization, due to disease discomfort, environmental noise, and care routines, causing reduced sleep and increased disturbances. This study evaluates factors affecting sleep quality and quantity in hospitalized children and compares inpatient sleep with sleep at home. Using an observational, prospective study design, we assessed sleep in hospitalized children aged 1-12 years, admitted to a tertiary center, and compared this with home 6-8 weeks after discharge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Fatigue is one of the most prevalent and distressing symptoms reported by survivors of childhood cancer. There is currently a lack of longitudinal studies on cancer-related fatigue, and especially on the relationship between the course of fatigue during treatment and fatigue at follow-up. The purpose of the current study was therefore to investigate if the course of fatigue during treatment, treatment intensity, serious adverse events, sex, or age at diagnosis are associated with cancer-related fatigue after treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: During maintenance treatment, Dutch pediatric patients with medium-risk (MR) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) receive intravenous chemotherapy and cyclic dexamethasone. Dexamethasone affects child's sleep and behavior. Standard-risk (SR) patients only receive oral chemotherapy, without dexamethasone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleep problems have a high prevalence and negative daytime consequences in adolescents. Current sleep measures for this age group have limitations. The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS ) developed sleep item banks for adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleep and the sleep-wake rhythm are essential for children's health and well-being, yet reference values are lacking. This study therefore aimed to assess actigraphic estimates of sleep and the 24-h sleep-wake rhythm, as well as 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) levels in healthy children of different age groups. Additionally, relationships between the outcomes and sex, highest parental educational level (as an indication of socioeconomic status (SES)), and body-mass-index (BMI) were explored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To assess sleep problems (prevalence and predictors) in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) after the most intensive phase of therapy (induction).
Methods: Patients (≥2 years) treated according to the Dutch ALL-11 protocol were included. Sleep was measured using parent-reports and self-reports (Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire; CSHQ) and actigraphy.
Study Objectives: To compare sleep-wake rhythms, melatonin, and cancer-related fatigue in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) to healthy children and to assess the association between sleep-wake outcomes and cancer-related fatigue.
Methods: A national cohort of ALL patients (2-18 years) was included. Sleep-wake rhythms were measured using actigraphy and generated the following variables: Interdaily stability (IS): higher IS reflects higher stability; intradaily variability (IV): lower IV indicates less fragmentation; L5 and M10 counts: activity counts during the five least and 10 most active hours, respectively; and relative amplitude (RA): the ratio of L5 and M10 counts (higher RA reflects a more robust rhythm).
Purpose: Proxy reports of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are commonly used in pediatric oncology. However, it is not known if caregivers' reports differ. This study therefore aims to compare paternal and maternal proxy reports, and explore determinants of couple disagreement (sociodemographic and medical characteristics, and parental QoL and distress).
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: Parents of children with cancer are at risk for sleep problems. If these problems persist, an important perpetuating factor might be ongoing parental distress. : The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of sleep problems and the concurrence with distress in parents of children treated for cancer, and to identify predictors of this symptom clustering.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most distressing side effects of childhood cancer treatment. Physical activity can decrease fatigue and has positive effects on other health outcomes. Most research on physical activity pertains to adults, and the few studies that focus on children have limited follow-up time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) was developed in the USA for children aged 4-10 years. The Dutch CSHQ has been validated for this age group, but not yet for toddlers. Furthermore, Dutch norm values for toddlers are unavailable.
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