2018 Volume 55 Issue 1 Pages 7-14
Children with cancer require long-term hospitalization. Thus far, few studies have addressed issues related to the quality of life of childhood cancer patients during hospitalization from the children’s family perspective. In this study, we aimed to clarify the characteristics of childhood cancer patients’ lives in the hospital. Forty-three families of children with cancer who were hospitalized between April 2004 and October 2009 in our hospital participated in this cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Twenty-two families (51%) felt that the hospital regulations overly restrict TV viewing. This answer was not affected by children’s age and TV viewing time before hospitalization. The families who felt restricted by TV regulation answered that their children were under stress due to the deprivation of distraction. Hospitalized children were more likely to have a mobile phone than their age group peers who were not hospitalized. Over 50% of the families provided mobile phones to their children during hospitalization. Regarding hospital diet, 78% of families who experienced difficulty because they were prohibited from bringing their own meals from home and/or the store to their children felt that children did not eat hospital diet at all during hospitalization. Sixty-three percent of the families perceived a change in their children’s sense of taste. In particular, children tended to prefer salty and strong flavors during hospitalization. The results of our survey suggest that the utilization of electronic devices and bringing meals might lead to greater satisfaction during hospitalization rather than strictly adhering to hospital regulations. More flexibility in hospital regulations may improve the quality of life of hospitalized children with cancer.
