Peer-reviewed article
QOL-31. USE OF PATIENT-REPORTED OUTCOMES TO IDENTIFY YOUTH AT RISK FOR IMPAIRED OVERALL HEALTH
Ingerski L, Lewis R, Mertens A, MacDonald T ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined health outcomes in 127 young people who had survived pediatric brain tumors, using parent-reported questionnaires to measure their physical, mental, and social well-being. Most survivors reported anxiety, depression, and fatigue levels similar to their peers, but nearly one-third showed significantly impaired overall health. The research identified that high anxiety, severe fatigue, and incomplete surgical tumor removal were key risk factors for poor health outcomes in these young survivors.
Key points
- 31% of pediatric brain tumor survivors experienced impaired global health compared to healthy peers
- Youth with significant anxiety had 6.2 times higher odds of impaired global health
- Youth with significant fatigue had 3.96 times higher odds of impaired global health
- Incomplete gross total resection of the tumor was associated with reduced risk of impaired health (protective factor in the model)
- Most survivors reported anxiety, depression, cognitive, and fatigue symptoms within normal range for their age
Limitations
The study is cross-sectional and uses only parent-reported outcomes rather than youth self-report or objective clinical measures, which may not capture all aspects of health status. The study cannot establish causation and does not evaluate whether interventions targeting anxiety or fatigue would improve outcomes.
Abstract
Abstract Pediatric brain tumor survivors often experience persistent and clinically significant late-effects following treatment. Critical to understanding morbidity is utilization of patient-reported outcomes (PROs). The current study evaluated PROs of individuals previously diagnosed with a pediatric brain tumor and identified risk factors for less optimal overall health. Participants included 127 youth 10.59±4.81 (M±SD) years old at survey completion and 4.45±3.82 years from diagnosis of a brain tumor (34.6% Pilocytic Astrocytoma, 9.4% Medulloblastoma, 9.4% Ependymoma, 7.9% Craniopharyngioma, 38.6% Other). Outcomes were assessed via Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) parent-proxy measures. Overall health was assessed via PROMIS Global Health (i.e., a measure of general, physical, mental, and social health). Univariate and logistic regression analyses examined potential demographic, medical, and psychosocial factors (e.g., age, race, diagnosis, treatment) related to poor global health. Initial descriptive analyses suggested that most youth experienced anxiety symptoms (T-score M±SD=50.71±11.54), depressive symptoms (47.96±10.34), cognitive functioning (46.52±9.10), and fatigue (55.14±10.62) similar to their peers. However, 31.0% of youth experienced impaired global health (T-score<40). After adjusting for other potential covariates, the final model suggested that youth with significant anxiety (OR=6.20, CI=1.56–24.65), youth with significant fatigue (OR=3.96, CI=1.26–12.41), and youth who did not undergo a gross total resection (OR=0.25, CI=0.07–0.96) were at risk for impaired global health. Identifying those at-risk for impaired health is essential to reducing survivor morbidity and optimizing overall quality of life following treatment. Current data suggest potentially modifiable factors that may improve long-term outcomes for survivors of pediatric brain tumors.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Identification of risk factors for impaired health using patient-reported outcomes measurement to enable targeted intervention
- Population
- 127 youth (mean age 10.59 years) who were survivors of pediatric brain tumors (4.45 years post-diagnosis)
Key finding
31.0% of youth experienced impaired global health (T-score<40)
L et al. · PubMed Central (PMC) · 1 Dec 2020