Publications by authors named "Thorsten Langer"

Purpose: The shift from child-centered to adult-focused healthcare presents social and psychological challenges for adolescents and young adults with chronic conditions, which can affect their participation in follow-up care. This study aims to investigate the factors that influence patient-driven motivations for adhering to follow-up recommendations, while also exploring the barriers and supports that impact the transition process for pediatric cancer survivors.

Methods: We developed interview guidelines grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the stereotype priming model (SPM).

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Background: Public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic had dramatic consequences for children and adolescents. However, policy-makers and healthcare researchers did not give sufficient weight to children's perspectives. One common public health measure was mandatory SARS-CoV-2 tests in schools.

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Background: In Germany, around 2.250 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer each year. Despite generally positive long-term survival rates, many patients must cope with late effects of the disease and its treatment.

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Article Synopsis
  • Rapid testing for SARS-CoV-2 was crucial in Germany, particularly in schools and daycare facilities, to manage the pandemic's spread; this study examined how children and caregivers' behaviors and attitudes affected their acceptance of different testing methods.
  • Conducted through a cross-sectional survey with nearly 2,000 caregivers and over 580 children, the study assessed preferences for nasal swab and saliva-based PCR tests and considered factors like vaccination status and mental health.
  • Findings showed a clear preference for saliva-based PCR tests, especially among parents of unvaccinated children, with lower acceptance linked to mental health issues in children, as well as to the demographics and education levels of parents.
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Background: To overcome knowledge gaps and optimize long-term follow-up (LTFU) care for childhood cancer survivors, the concept of the Survivorship Passport (SurPass) has been invented. Within the European PanCareSurPass project, the semiautomated and interoperable SurPass (version 2.0) will be optimized, implemented, and evaluated at 6 LTFU care centers representing 6 European countries and 3 distinct health system scenarios: (1) national electronic health information systems (EHISs) in Austria and Lithuania, (2) regional or local EHISs in Italy and Spain, and (3) cancer registries or hospital-based EHISs in Belgium and Germany.

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Background: Childhood cancer survivors (CCS), of whom there are about 500,000 living in Europe, are at an increased risk of developing health problems [1-6] and require lifelong Survivorship Care. There are information and knowledge gaps among CCS and healthcare providers (HCPs) about requirements for Survivorship Care [7-9] that can be addressed by the Survivorship Passport (SurPass), a digital tool providing CCS and HCPs with a comprehensive summary of past treatment and tailored recommendations for Survivorship Care. The potential of the SurPass to improve person-centred Survivorship Care has been demonstrated previously [10,11].

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Background: Children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN) require more support than the average of their peers. Support systems for CSHCN were particularly affected by pandemic control measures. Perceived social support is a resource for health and wellbeing for CSHCN and their families.

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Introduction: This article presents the study design of the qualitative part of the VersKiK study (Long-term care, care needs and wellbeing of individuals after cancer in childhood or adolescence: study protocol of a large scale multi-methods non-interventional study) aiming to explore actual follow-up needs of childhood and adolescence cancer survivors and their informal caregivers, gaps in current follow-up care provision and trajectories of cancer survivors' transition from paediatric to adult healthcare.

Methods And Analysis: We will conduct up to 30 interviews with survivors of childhood and adolescence cancer and their informal caregivers with up to 20 participant observations of follow-up appointments. The results of these will be discussed in up to four focus groups with healthcare professionals and representatives of self-help groups.

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Purpose: Childhood, adolescent and young adult (CAYA) cancer survivors require ongoing surveillance for health problems from the end of cancer treatment throughout their lives. There is a lack of evidence-based guidelines on optimal surveillance strategies for the period from the end of treatment to 5 years after diagnosis. We aimed to address this gap by developing recommendations for short-term surveillance of health problems based on existing long-term follow-up (LTFU) care guidelines.

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Purpose: To identify barriers and facilitators for implementing the Survivorship Passport (SurPass) v2.0 in six long-term follow-up (LTFU) care centres in Europe.

Methods: Stakeholders including childhood cancer survivors (CCSs), healthcare providers (HCPs), managers, information and technology (IT) specialists, and others, participated in six online Open Space meetings.

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Purpose: To prospectively assess the incidence of Dropped Head Syndrome (DHS) in childhood cancer survivors (CCS) and to develop and evaluate a diagnostic algorithm for DHS.

Methods: A systematic literature search for DHS in combination with neck radiotherapy (RT) exposure was performed. Analyses and a combination of the most common examination methods were integrated into a diagnostic algorithm.

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Introduction: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disease requiring various clinical specialists and therapists to provide care. Due to the disease's dynamic nature and the long distances between specialized centers and local providers, integrating care between disciplines can be challenging. Care that is inadequately integrated can compromise the quality of care and become a burden for patients and families.

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Purpose: Auditory complications are potential side effects from childhood cancer treatment. Yet, limited evidence exists about the impact of auditory complications-particularly tinnitus-on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among childhood cancer survivors (CCS). We determined the prevalence of hearing loss and tinnitus in the European PanCareLIFE cohort of CCS and examined its effect on HRQoL.

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Background: Timely diagnosis of treatment-related chronic health conditions in childhood cancer survivors (CCS) may result in reduced long-term morbidity and mortality. Evidence-based guidelines serve as a tool to implement risk-adapted screening examinations in long-term follow-up (LTFU) of CCS.

Summary: New international LTFU guidelines from the last 3 years have been reviewed and included into a practical LTFU tool in order to provide an updated summary of LTFU recommendations.

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Purpose: Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at risk for increased morbidity and reduced quality of life associated with treatment-related late effects. In Germany, however, only a few of the more than 40,000 CCS registered in the German Childhood Cancer Registry (GCCR) currently benefit from adequate clinical long-term follow-up (LTFU) structures. To establish a comprehensive knowledge base on CCS' long-term health in Germany, a database was developed in cooperation with the GCCR.

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Background: Children with medical complexity (CMC) require long-term care accompanied by different health- and social care professionals. Depending on the severity of the chronic condition, caregivers spend a lot of time coordinating appointments, communicating between providers, clarifying social legal issues, and more. Effective care coordination is seen as key to addressing the fragmented care that CMC and their families often face.

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Background: Epidemiological research on late effects of therapy shows the necessity to aggregate chemotherapy agents to substance classes. This requires using conversion factors by substance classes.

Aims: The aim of this study was to identify previously used conversion factors from the literature, to present a novel approach for additional factors, and to compare these approaches.

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Introduction: Osteosarcoma treatment has benefitted greatly from collaborative research. This paper describes the history and accomplishments of the Cooperative Osteosarcoma Study Group (COSS), mainly dedicated to clinical questions, as well as remaining challenges.

Materials And Methods: Narrative review of over four decades of uninterrupted collaboration within the multi-national German-Austrian-Swiss COSS group.

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Background: Integrated care models aim to strengthen the collaboration between healthcare sectors to ensure a higher quality of care for children with chronic conditions. Assessing pediatric healthcare integration through families' experiences, therefore, is essential. Our study aimed to psychometrically test the PICS-D, the first German-language integrated care questionnaire, which is based on the Pediatric Integrated Care Survey (PICS) developed in the USA.

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Ewing sarcoma (EwS) represents highly aggressive bone and soft tissue tumors that require intensive treatment by multi-chemotherapy, surgery and/or radiotherapy. While therapeutic regimens have increased survival rates, EwS survivors face long-term sequelae that include secondary malignant neoplasms (SMNs). Consequently, more knowledge about EwS patients who develop SMNs is needed to identify high-risk patients and adjust follow-up strategies.

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Refugee children and adolescents with chronic diseases and disabilities are among the most vulnerable persons as their health and developmental chances are considerably at risk. This article describes the challenges and opportunities in the care of this group of patients from the perspective of different care sectors: initial reception center, public health service, pediatricians in private practice, social pediatric centers and patient organizations. The starting point is a presentation of the rights to optimal healthcare that can be derived from the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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