Quality of Life of Parents of Children with Cancer—Single-Center, Prospective Cross-Sectional Study from South India

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Holistic care for children with chronic diseases including cancer should include psychological support for children and their families. The impact of pediatric malignancies in regard to quality of life (QOL) of parents is poorly described. Objectives We aim to study the QOL of parents of children diagnosed with cancer in physical, psychosocial, environmental, and social domains. Materials and Methods A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted with 162 parents of children diagnosed with malignancy for 3 months or more. Assessment was done by World Health Organization quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire that includes four domains with a total of 26 questions. Data analysis was done by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0; p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results on continuous measurements were presented as “Mean ± SD” and categorical measurements were presented as percentages (%). Differences in the quantitative variables between groups were assessed by unpaired-t-test; comparison between groups by nonparametric Mann–Whitney U test and chi-squared test was used to analyze categorical variables with p-value of < 0.05 using a two-tailed taken as statistically significant. Results Mean raw scores of QOL in physical health, psychological, social, and environmental domains were 20.10, 15.28, 8.10, and 25.24, respectively, with social relationships being the lowest; inadequate or low QOL was noted in 50% study population and it was maximally affected by increased duration of treatment, multimodality treatment, socioeconomic status, rural population, education and occupation status of the parents, and increased cost of care. Type of family or place of residence, family history of psychiatric illness, or malignancy did not influence the QOL of parents of children with cancer. Conclusion Psychological support from the beginning of the treatment along with financial, social support should be offered through a comprehensive care program to improve the QOL.