Development of adolescent childhood cancer survivors' psychosocial issues scale.

BACKGROUND: Follow-up care for adolescent childhood cancer survivors (ACCS) after they return to school requires an understanding of their psychosocial issues. Therefore, this study developed the adolescent childhood cancer survivors' psychosocial issues scale (ACCSPIS) and evaluated its reliability and validity. METHODS: In the development phase, pediatric oncology clinical professionals created the 24 item questionnaire of ACCS's psychosocial issues. In the feasibility phase, a survey was administered to 165 ACCS aged 12-18 years after discharge from hospital in Japan, and 57 completed questionnaires were analyzed. The survey items were psychosocial issues, attributes, K6 scale, and impact of event scale-revised (IES-R) scale. Factor analysis was conducted for psychosocial issues. Regarding reliability, Cronbach's α coefficients and item-total correlation coefficients were calculated. Regarding validity, Spearman's rank correlation coefficients between ACCSPIS and K6 and IES-R were calculated, and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Four factors comprising 15 items were extracted: "appearance changes due to treatment effects," "anxiety about marriage and the future," "change in appearance due to treatment", and "psychological distress due to interpersonal relationships and information about the disease." The model fit was good, with a total ACCSPIS α coefficient of 0.901 and α coefficients for the subscales ranging from 0.651 to 0.914. The K6 and IES-R were significantly associated with the total ACCSPIS, and item-total correlations were satisfactory. CONCLUSIONS: The reliability and validity of ACCSPIS were generally confirmed. This scale could be useful to measure psychosocial issues in ACCS aged 12-18 years after their return to school.

Parental readiness for the transition to adulthood of children with a chronic disease.

PURPOSE: To investigate parental readiness for their child's transition to adulthood among pediatric patients with chronic disease in Japan. DESIGN AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, parents of children with chronic diseases attending a pediatric outpatient hospital completed an anonymous self-administered questionnaire to investigate demographics and parental readiness for children's transition to adulthood. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine whether parents' readiness differed according to their children's disease types. RESULTS: A total of 179 parents responded to the survey. Of these, 60% confirmed awareness and knowledge of their children's disease and treatment with their children. They also thought and accepted that there would be a time when their children would move from pediatrics to an adult department. More than half of parents had discussions with their children about the children's interests and would discuss with each other if their children's choice differed from the parents' opinion. <20% of parents had gathered information about the transition and made sure their children saw the outpatient clinic alone or encouraged them to write a record of their visits. The readiness of parents of children with diabetes and of children with cardiovascular disease was higher than those of children with cancer and blood diseases on several items. CONCLUSIONS: Parental readiness to support their children's transitions did not progress well, suggesting the need for relevant interventions. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Children and parents should be supported in acquiring information about the transition to adulthood and in implementing child-oriented outpatient visits.

Sitting maneuver to uncover latent left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in patients without hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction [LVOTO; pressure gradient (PG) ≥30 mmHg] is observed in some patients without hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and it may develop especially in older patients without HCM (non-HCM). The aim of this study is to investigate if the Valsalva or an upright sitting maneuver can unveil latent LVOTO in patients with non-HCM. METHODS: A total of 33 non-HCM patients with a late peaking or dagger-shaped pulsed Doppler waveform of the LVOT and PG <30 mmHg were included. The Doppler flow velocity of the LVOT was measured at rest, after the Valsalva and a sitting maneuver. Peak PG of ≥30 mmHg after either maneuver was defined as latent LVOTO. The angle between the left ventricular septum and the aorta in the parasternal long-axis view and the apical three-chamber view was measured. RESULTS: Twenty (61 %) of the 33 patients (mean age 74 ±â€¯9 years) were diagnosed with latent LVOTO. Of these, five (25 %) patients were diagnosed after both the Valsalva and sitting maneuver, and 15 (75 %) were diagnosed only after the sitting maneuver. The latent LVOTO group had a significantly smaller angle than the no-LVOTO group between the ventricular septum and the aorta in the parasternal long axis views (107 ±â€¯8° vs. 117 ±â€¯8°, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The sitting maneuver is better than the Valsalva maneuver in unveiling latent LVOTO in older, non-HCM patients.

Mothers' Experiences about Decisions to Use Children's Proton Beam Therapy.

Recently, proton beam therapy has been recommended in radiation therapy for child-hood cancer. However, facilities for children are limited, and parents who choose this treatment for their children face a variety of challenges. This study reveals mothers' experiences about the decision to use the aforementioned therapy. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 16 mothers of children who received proton beam therapy in Japan, and a grounded theory approach was adopted. The results revealed that mothers were very worried about late complications concerning their children due to radiation. While the mothers strongly expected proton beam therapy to reduce the risk of late complications, they felt uncertainty and anxiety throughout the entire decision-making process. Despite having to deal with their feelings, they had to transfer to another hospital and prepare support for their children to begin treatment, and this put a lot of strain on them. From decision-making to start of treatment, these emotional fluctuations and the need for psychological support became apparent.