Psychosocial outcomes in Chinese survivors of pediatric cancers or bone marrow failure disorders: A single-center study

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Most of the studies on functional outcomes in pediatric survivors of cancers and bone marrow failure disorders have been conducted in North American, European, and Oceanian populations, with few studies having been performed in China. The objective of this study was to evaluate psychosocial outcomes in a cohort of Chinese pediatric survivors diagnosed with cancer or conditions requiring hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and to identify clinical and behavioral factors associated with adverse psychosocial outcomes. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey study. We recruited pediatric survivors of cancer or inherited disorder requiring HSCT at ≤18 years old and were ≥6 months post-treatment. Parents completed the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital After Completion of Therapy questionnaire to report their child’s emotional functioning, social functioning, attention/concentration and behavior. Multivariable general linear modeling was used to identify clinical, treatment and behavioral factors associated with psychosocial outcomes, adjusting for sex, age and cancer diagnoses. RESULTS: Ninety-five pediatric survivors were recruited (62.1% male; mean [standard deviation] age 9.7 [3.4] years; 4.1 [2.6] years post-diagnosis). They were diagnosed with bone marrow failure disorders (23.2%), hematological malignancies (45.3%) or solid tumors (23.2%). Compared with survivors with no current health problems, those with more than one current health problem performed worse in emotional functioning (Estimate = 2.42, SE = 0.88, P = 0.008) and social functioning (Estimate = 2.90, SE = 1.64, P = 0.03). Higher pain interference was significantly associated with worse emotional functioning (Estimate = 0.19, SE = 0.08, P = 0.03) and attention functioning (Estimate = 0.26, SE = 0.11, P = 0.03). Compared with survivors who reported less sleep problems, those who had more sleep problems demonstrated poorer emotional functioning (Estimate = 0.30, SE = 0.08, P = 0.001). Survivors who had a longer duration of screen usage per day reported more impairment on attention and behavior functioning than those who had a shorter duration of screen usage per day (both P<0.5). CONCLUSION: Survivors who were diagnosed at a younger age or had unaddressed/untreated health problems may require additional psychological evaluation. The implementation of psychosocial assessments during routine long-term follow-up care may help to identify high-risk patients during the early phase of survivorship. Rehabilitation interventions should address modifiable behavioral factors (e.g. sleep habits, screen time and chronic pain).