Pediatric blood & cancer
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Nov 2012
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialHealth literacy variables related to parents' understanding of their child's cancer prognosis.
Obtaining an accurate understanding of a child's cancer prognosis can help parents make informed decisions about treatment. Research has shown that parents tend to overestimate their child's cancer prognosis relative to physicians. Thus, we examined whether the content of physician communication, parent sources of medical information, and parent demographic factors affected the association between oncologist and parent estimates of a child's cancer prognosis. ⋯ Fathers' age may be important to their understanding of their child's cancer prognosis, but we did not find support for other factors related to prognosis literacy. Given the homogeneity of our sample, future research should assess differences in parents' prognosis knowledge across cancer diagnosis, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES), which may aid in developing interventions to improve parent understanding.