TURKISH JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY, cilt.36, sa.2, ss.112-116, 2019 (SCI-Expanded)
Objective: We investigated the health-related quality of life (HRQL) in survivors of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and evaluated the perceptions of the children, their siblings, and their parents.
Materials and methods: Seventy ALL survivors, who were between 7 and 17 years of age and had completed therapy ≥2 years, were included. The control group consisted of their healthy siblings. HRQL was assessed by the age-specific KINDLR questionnaire.
Results: No significant differences could be found among HRQL scores of ALL survivors with respect to variables such as sex, risk group, and having chronic illness. HRQL scores for physical well-being, emotional well-being, family, and social functioning of the patient and sibling self-reports and parent proxy reports were lower than the expected values for healthy and chronically ill children.
Conclusion: These results demonstrate that both ALL survivors and their families need help via psychological counseling programs to improve their HRQL even after completion of therapy.