Pediatric blood & cancer
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Jul 2013
The first step to integrating the child's voice in adverse event reporting in oncology trials: a content validation study among pediatric oncology clinicians.
Children with cancer experience significant toxicities while undergoing treatment. Documentation of adverse events (AEs) in clinical trials is mandated by federal agencies. Although many AEs are subjective, the current standard is clinician reporting. Our long-term goal is to create and validate a self-report measure of subjective AEs for children aged 7 years and older that will inform AE reporting for the National Cancer Institute's Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE). This content validation study aimed to identify which of the AEs in the current CTCAE should be included in a pediatric self-report measure. ⋯ The 64 CTCAE terms will be translated into child-friendly terms as the basis of the child-report toxicity measure. Ultimately, systematic collection of these data will improve care by enhancing the accuracy and completeness of treatment toxicity reports for childhood cancer.
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Jul 2013
Mental health disorders influence admission rates for pain in children with sickle cell disease.
Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) experience a broad range of mental health disorders placing them at risk for more complicated hospitalizations for pain. The current study examined the impact of mental health disorders on admission rates and hospital length of stay (LOS) for vaso-occlusive pain events (VOE) in pediatric patients with SCD. ⋯ Pediatric patients with SCD and a history of a mental health diagnosis have longer LOS and higher admission rates for management of VOE. Ultimately, these findings suggest that mental health pose a challenge to the management of sickle cell pain.