Health‐related quality of life of Brazilian children and adolescents with benign and malignant solid tumours: A prospective cohort study during the first year after hospital admission

Abstract

Introduction: This study aims to assess the impact of paediatric benign and malignant solid tumours and its treatment on the health‐related quality of life of children and adolescents who were followed up in a Reference Center in Pediatric Oncology in Rio de Janeiro. Methods: It is a prospective cohort study. Quality of life assessment was performed using the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales and PedsQL™ 3.0 Cancer Module pro‐ tocols three times: during hospital admission (T1), 6 months after admission (T2) and 1 year after admission (T3). Results: We evaluated 132 patients, 59 men and 73 women, aged 2–17 years. In PedsQL™4.0, the Emotional Functioning scale was the one with the worst scores, while the scores on the Social Functioning scale was the best. In PedsQL™ 3.0, the worst domains were Procedural Anxiety and Worry. Patients with malignant bone tumours had the worst health‐related quality of life. The group who received only surgery had better results. Total scores of PedsQL™4.0 and PedsQL™ 3.0 improved between T1 and T3. Conclusion: Children and adolescents with malignant and benign neoplasms undergo changes in quality of life as a result of the disease and treatment, but an improvement has been observed over time