Follow up of Survivors of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with Detection of Parental Psychiatric Disorders

Objectives: is to examine the late effects of cancer on parents of survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, with particular stress on posttraumatic symptoms. Methods: Fourty six children excluded from 60 children cured from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. They stopped therapy for at least 3 years. Remission of the 46 children was confirmed by thorough clinical examination as well as laboratory investigations including peripheral blood examination, bone marrow aspiration and C.S.F examination. Full medical history including onset, duration, severity and full detailed scheme of treatment were obtained. Special clinical files were done for all the studied cases with all their clinical and laboratory data. The parents of those children underwent the followings: General health questionnaire, ICD-10 symptoms checklist of mental disorder, rating scales for anxiety and depression, Post traumatic stress disorder assessment scale and the PCASEE questionnaire for quality of life. Results: 56% of the parents of cancer survivors suffered from psychiatric morbidity affective, financial and ego function subtests of the quality of life were significantly decreased in parents of acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors than the controls. There was high significant elevation of the post traumatic stress symptoms in parents of acute lymphoblastic survivors than the controls. Conclusion: Though parents voiced relief at survival, they were anxious about relapse, together with concerns about meeting the long term psychological, medical, educational needs of the survivors. The need for long term follow up studies during different phases of treatment with and without psychological intervention is mandatory, which might improve the psychological outcome for both parents and children.