Quality of Life Assessment in Childhood Cancer Survivors

儿童癌症幸存者的生活质量评估

• 批准号: 6800463
• 负责人: Bradley Jay Zebrack
• 金额: $ 12.86万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-09-12 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6800463
• 关键词: age difference; behavioral /social science research tag; clinical research; focus groups; human subject; interview; long term survivor; pediatric neoplasm /cancer; psychological aspect of cancer; quality of life; young adult human (21-34)

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this study is to enhance our ability to assess and examine the varied and unique ways in which cancer impacts quality of life (QOL) for young adult survivors of childhood cancer within the context of human growth and development. Preliminary work in this field suggests that the age at which cancer is diagnosed may influence long-term survivorship and quality of life. In the initial phase of this study, we will build upon a candidate measure for assessing quality of life specific to long-term cancer survivors (five years or more beyond diagnosis) and adapt it for use in a target population of young adult survivors. Interview and focus group participants will provide data on QOL and developmental issues not assessed in the current version of the instrument and not captured by existing quality of life measures. A resulting module specific to this population then will be pilot tested and ultimately administered to a sample of 400-600 young adult survivors recruited from several pediatric hematology/oncology programs. The specific aims of this study are 1) to complete the development of a candidate measure that assesses the impact of cancer across varied dimensions of QOL in long-term survivors, and to test the validity and reliability of this instrument in a group of young adult survivors of childhood cancer, and 2) to determine the differential impact of cancer in young adults as a function of the age/life stage at which cancer is diagnosed (early childhood, later childhood, adolescence). This knowledge can serve as a foundation for deriving testable hypotheses regarding the myriad variables that may influence the quality of survivors' lives throughout the remainder of their lives. The proposed project represents an opportunity for the applicant to develop advanced skills in instrument development, survey design, statistical analysis, and psychometric testing as he will be involved in all aspects of large scale survey design and administration, data collection and organization, and statistical analysis. This experience will enhance the applicant's ability to derive hypotheses and research questions from both qualitative and quantitative data. Together with a targeted program of advanced didactic instruction, this project will prepare the applicant to become a fully independent scientist in the field of cancer prevention and control research with a particular emphasis on survivorship and quality of life.

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的目的是提高我们评估和检查癌症在人类生长和发育的背景下影响儿童癌症年轻成年幸存者生活质量（QOL）的各种独特方式的能力。发展。 该领域的初步工作表明，诊断癌症的年龄可能会影响长期生存和生活质量。 在这项研究的初始阶段，我们将建立一个候选指标，用于评估长期癌症幸存者（诊断后五年或更长时间）的生活质量，并将其调整用于年轻成年幸存者的目标人群。 访谈和焦点小组参与者将提供有关生活质量和发展问题的数据，该数据未在当前版本的工具中评估，也未通过现有的生活质量衡量标准捕获。 然后，针对该人群生成的模块将进行试点测试，并最终对从多个儿科血液学/肿瘤学项目中招募的 400-600 名年轻成年幸存者样本进行测试。 本研究的具体目的是 1) 完成一项候选指标的开发，该指标可评估癌症对长期幸存者生活质量各个维度的影响，并在一组年轻成人中测试该工具的有效性和可靠性儿童癌症幸存者，2) 确定癌症对年轻人的不同影响，作为诊断癌症的年龄/生命阶段（幼儿期、幼儿期、青春期）的函数。 这些知识可以作为推导关于可能影响幸存者余生生活质量的无数变量的可检验假设的基础。 拟议的项目为申请人提供了发展仪器开发、调查设计、统计分析和心理测试方面高级技能的机会，因为他将参与大规模调查设计和管理、数据收集和组织以及统计分析的各个方面。 这种经验将增强申请人从定性和定量数据中得出假设和研究问题的能力。 结合有针对性的高级教学计划，该项目将使申请人成为癌症预防和控制研究领域完全独立的科学家，特别强调生存和生活质量。