Determining transition readiness in Swiss childhood cancer survivors - a feasibility study.
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BORIS DOI
Publisher DOI
PubMed ID
33478409
Description
BACKGROUND
The successful transition of childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) from pediatric to adult long-term follow-up care is a critical phase, and determining the right time point can be challenging. We assessed the feasibility of the use of existing transition readiness tools in the context of the Swiss health care system, assessed partly transition readiness in Swiss CCSs, and compared our findings with Canadian CCSs for which these tools were originally developed.
METHODS
We officially translated the Cancer Worry Scale (CWS) and Self-Management Skill Scale (SMSS) into German and integrated them into this cross-sectional study. We included CCSs attending the long-term follow-up (LTFU) clinic in the Division of Oncology-Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Kantonsspital Aarau. We used descriptive statistics to describe transition readiness.
RESULTS
We randomly recruited 50 CCSs aged ≥18 years at participation. The CCSs had a median CWS score of 62 (interquartile range 55-71), indicating a moderate level of cancer-related worry. Despite high self-management skills, some answers showed a dependency of CCSs on their parents. Our experience shows that the CWS and SMSS are easy for Swiss CCSs to use, understand, and complete. The interpretation of the results must take differences in health care systems between countries into account.
CONCLUSIONS
The translated CWS and SMSS are appropriate additional measures to assess transition readiness in CCSs. These scales can be used longitudinally to find the individual time point for transition and the completion by CCSs enables the health care team to individualize the transition process and to support the CCSs according to their individual needs.
The successful transition of childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) from pediatric to adult long-term follow-up care is a critical phase, and determining the right time point can be challenging. We assessed the feasibility of the use of existing transition readiness tools in the context of the Swiss health care system, assessed partly transition readiness in Swiss CCSs, and compared our findings with Canadian CCSs for which these tools were originally developed.
METHODS
We officially translated the Cancer Worry Scale (CWS) and Self-Management Skill Scale (SMSS) into German and integrated them into this cross-sectional study. We included CCSs attending the long-term follow-up (LTFU) clinic in the Division of Oncology-Hematology, Department of Pediatrics, Kantonsspital Aarau. We used descriptive statistics to describe transition readiness.
RESULTS
We randomly recruited 50 CCSs aged ≥18 years at participation. The CCSs had a median CWS score of 62 (interquartile range 55-71), indicating a moderate level of cancer-related worry. Despite high self-management skills, some answers showed a dependency of CCSs on their parents. Our experience shows that the CWS and SMSS are easy for Swiss CCSs to use, understand, and complete. The interpretation of the results must take differences in health care systems between countries into account.
CONCLUSIONS
The translated CWS and SMSS are appropriate additional measures to assess transition readiness in CCSs. These scales can be used longitudinally to find the individual time point for transition and the completion by CCSs enables the health care team to individualize the transition process and to support the CCSs according to their individual needs.
Date of Publication
2021-01-21
Publication Type
Article
Keyword(s)
Childhood cancer survivors Readiness Scales Transition
Language(s)
en
Contributor(s)
Wechsler, Patrick | |
Denzler, Sibylle | |
Koehler, Henrik | |
Scheinemann, Katrin |
Additional Credits
Series
BMC cancer
Publisher
BioMed Central
ISSN
1471-2407
Access(Rights)
open.access