Recruitment and retention challenges and strategies in randomized controlled trials of psychosocial interventions for children with cancer and their parents: a collective case study.

In pediatric oncology there are few examples of successful recruitment and retention strategies in psychosocial care research. This study aims to summarize experiences, challenges, and strategies for conducting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychosocial intervention studies among children with cancer and their parent(s). We conducted a collective case study. To identify the cases, Pubmed and two trial registries were searched for ongoing and finished RCTs of psychosocial intervention studies for children with cancer and their parents. Online semi-structured expert interviews discussing recruitment and retention challenges and strategies were performed with principal investigators and research staff members of the identified cases. Nine studies were identified. Investigators and staff from seven studies participated, highlighting challenges and strategies within three major themes: eligibility, enrollment and retention. Regarding eligibility, collaborating constructively with healthcare professionals and involving them before the start of the study were essential. Being flexible, training the research staff, enabling alignment with the participants' situation, and providing consistency in contact between the research staff member and the families were important strategies for optimizing enrollment and retention. All studies followed a stepped process in recruitment.  Conclusion: Although recruitment and retention in some selected studies were successful, there is a paucity of evidence on experienced recruitment and retention challenges in pediatric psychosocial research and best practices on optimizing them. The strategies outlined in this study can help researchers optimize their protocol and trial-implementation, and contribute to better psychosocial care for children with cancer and their parents.  Trial Registration: This study is not a clinical trial. What is Known: • Performing RCTs is challenging, particularly in pediatric psychosocial research when both the child and parent are targeted. Recruitment and retention are common concerns. In pediatric oncology, there are few examples of successful recruitment and retention strategies in psychosocial care research. What is New: • Key strategies to collaborate constructively with healthcare professionals were outlined. Being flexible, training the research staff, alignment with the participant's situations and providing consistency in contact between the research staff member and the families were considered as essential strategies.

Patient and Procedure-related Characteristics Correlated with Severity of Hemoptysis Following Percutaneous Transthoracic Needle Biopsy: Results of a 10-year Retrospective Review.

Purpose: A risk of percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) is hemoptysis which can range from mild to life-threatening. The reported occurrence of hemoptysis is 1.7-14.5% and the demographic, patient, and procedure characteristics have not been extensively described. The purpose of this study was to assess the associations of demographic, patient, and procedure characteristics with the severity of hemoptysis. Materials and Methods: A single-institution, single group, retrospective, electronic medical record (EMR) review was performed on all hemoptysis events occurring between 2008 and 2018. Demographic, clinical, and procedure variables were extracted from EMRs. Outcome of hemoptysis events was graded using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CT-CAE). Mild-moderate and severe hemoptysis were defined as CT-CAE classifications of 1-2 and 3-5, respectively. Associations were generated using logistic regressions and Likelihood Ratio Chi-Square tests. Results: In ten years, 14,665 PTNB resulted in 231 hemoptysis events occurring in 229 patients; 12.7% (n=29) of those were severe. The strongest and statistically significant variables associated with an increased likelihood of a severe event, if an event occurred, were cigarette pack years (OR=1.02, 95% C.I.=1.01-1.04, P=.020); history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (OR=3.68, 95% C.I. = 1.53-8.82, P=.003); core biopsy technique (OR=8.13, 95% CI=1.07, 61.40, P=.042), and larger diameter needle (20g vs. 18g: OR= 2.60 (1.09, 6.17), P=.031). Conclusions: PTNB-associated hemoptysis was an uncommon event that was rarely life-threatening. The extent of the patient's smoking history, the diagnosis of COPD, and core biopsy technique were associated with an increased likelihood of severe hemoptysis.

Hemoptysis associated with percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy: Development of critical events checklist and procedure outcomes.

BACKGROUND: A percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) is performed to obtain tissue for a pathologic diagnosis. A PTNB is necessary prior to the initiation of many cancer treatments. There is a risk of hemoptysis, the expectoration of blood, with the possibility for adverse, life-threatening outcomes. A critical event checklist is a cognitive aid used in an emergency to ensure critical steps are followed. To date, there are no known checklists published for management of PTNB-related, life-threatening hemoptysis. The purpose of this report is to describe the development and implementation of a critical event checklist and the adoption of the checklist into hemoptysis management. METHODS: In March 2017, a process improvement team convened to evaluate the hemoptysis response using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) methodology. The checklist was evaluated and updated through September 2019. The team educated Interventional Radiology (IR) clinicians on the new checklist and conducted simulations on its use. A retrospective chart review was performed on hemoptysis events between the ten-year period of October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2018 to evaluate the adoption of the checklist into practice. RESULTS: There were 231 hemoptysis events occurring in 229 patients (2 with repeat biopsies). Prior to implementing the protocol and checklist, there were 166 (71.9%) hemoptysis events. After implementation there were 65 (28.1%) events. The median amount of documented blood expectorated with hemoptysis was 100 mL (IQR 20.0-300.0). Twenty-six patients were admitted after PTNB for reasons related to the hemoptysis event (11.3%). During the procedure, four (1.7%) patients with hemoptysis suffered a cardiac arrest. Prior to implementation of the protocol and critical events checklist, nurses positioned patients in the lateral decubitus (LD) position in 40 out of 162 (24.7%) cases. After implementation of the critical events checklist, nurses positioned patients in the LD position 42 out of 65 cases (64.6%) (OR=5.57(95% CI 2.99-10.367), p<0.001). DISCUSSION: Interventional Radiology nurses successfully adopted the checklist into management of hemoptysis events. The reported incidence of hemoptysis suggests a need for IR teams to prepare for and simulate hemoptysis events. Future research is needed to evaluate the change in patient outcomes before and after critical events checklist implementation.

Parent Caregiving Experiences and Posttraumatic Growth Following Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant.

Background: Parents of children recovering from hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) experience significant distress due to unpredictable and potentially life-threatening complications. Distress is heightened by intensive caregiving parents provide the child during the first 100 days after HSCT. Management of distress and adaptation to caregiving responsibilities may be enhanced if parents find benefit in their experiences through posttraumatic growth (PTG), yet little is known about how parents' experiences after HSCT foster PTG. This study aimed to explore how parents experience caregiving and PTG 100 days after children's HSCT. Methods: Thirty-one parents completed semi-structured interviews ∼100 days after children received HSCT. Results: Four major themes emerged from the data to describe parent experiences after HSCT: (1) psychosocial and healthcare contextual factors; (2) cognitive, affective, and social support reactions to HSCT; (3) problem-based, emotion-based, and cognitive coping strategies; and (4) PTG. Discussion: Results increase the understanding of how parents' experiences and caregiving responsibilities contribute to PTG. These findings may guide future research to understand how these experiences influence PTG. Nurses are integral to the parents' experiences. Future work should focus on nursing interventions that enhance positive reinterpretation of parents' experiences after their children's HSCT.