A systematic review of self-report instruments for the measurement of anxiety in hospitalized children with cancer

• Anxiety has been identified as one of the most severe and long-lasting symptoms experienced by hospitalized children with cancer. Self-reports are especially important for documenting emotional and abstract concepts, such as anxiety. Children may not always be able to communicate their symptoms due to language difficulties, a lack of developmental language skills, or the severity of their illness. Instruments with sufficient psychometric quality and pictorial support may address this communication challenge. The purpose of this review was to systematically search the published literature and identify validated and reliable self-report instruments available for children aged 5–18 years to use in the assessment of their anxiety to ensure they receive appropriate anxietyrelief intervention in hospital. What validated self-report instruments can children with cancer use to self-report anxiety in the hospital setting? Which of these instruments offer pictorial support? Eight instruments were identified, but most of the instruments lacked pictorial support. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL™) 3.0 Brain Tumor Module and Cancer Module proved to be useful in hospitalized children with cancer, as they provide pictorial support. It is recommended that faces or symbols be used along with the VAS, as pictures are easily understood by younger children. Future studies could include the adaptation of existing instruments in digital e-health tools. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Anxiety

Cancer

Hospital

Instrument

Pediatric patient

Pictorial support

Self-report

Symptom management

child health

health care

language

mental disorder

symptom

adolescent

child

diagnosis

epidemiology

hospitalized child

human

neoplasm

preschool child

quality of life

self report

Child

Hospitalized

Child

Preschool

Humans

Neoplasms

Människan i vården

The Human Perspective in Care

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)