A prospective study of family predictors of health-related quality of life in pediatric brain tumor survivors.

Pediatr Blood Cancer

Division of Oncology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Published: June 2018

Background: The objective of this study was to examine prospectively the associations between family functioning at the end of tumor-directed treatment and the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of pediatric brain tumor survivors (PBTSs) approximately 9 months later.

Procedure: Thirty-five PBTS (age 6-16 years) and their mothers completed measures of family functioning and survivor HRQL within 5 months of completing tumor-directed therapy (baseline) and again approximately 9 months later (follow-up).

Results: Survivor-rated general family functioning at baseline significantly predicted mother proxy- and self-reported survivor HRQL at follow-up when controlling for survivor HRQL at baseline and relevant demographic and treatment-related variables.

Conclusions: Family functioning is a key factor contributing to survivor HRQL and should be screened throughout the course of tumor-directed treatment. Psychosocial interventions directed toward improving general family functioning may improve survivor well-being following the completion of treatment.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5911210PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pbc.26976DOI Listing

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