Psychosocial issues faced by children with cancer: Lessons learnt from a tertiary care center in South India.

Background: Psychosocial issues adversely impact children with cancer but are seldom addressed.

Materials and methods: Children with cancer who were consecutively referred to the pediatric psycho-oncologist from June 2016 to September 2018 were included in a retrospective study. Psychosocial issues were categorized as disease related (DR), treatment related (TR), interpersonal related (IPR), and academic related (AR). The interventions provided were classified as counseling, prolonged psychotherapy, and referral to a child psychiatrist for pharmacologic therapy.

Results: The mean age of the 212 children included in the study was 10.7 ± 4.2 years, and the male to female ratio was 1.8:1. Of the 212 children, AR, TR, DR, and IPR concerns were identified in 93 (44%), 61 (29%), 41 (19%), and three (1%) patients, respectively. Fourteen of the 212 (7%) patients had concerns spanning all four domains. Thirty-six (48%) of the 56 children aged ≤7 years were identified to have TR issues. Of the 99 children aged ≥13 years, 65 (61%) demonstrated AR issues.

Conclusions: Children with cancer experience several psychosocial issues. They can be classified into specific clusters that differ across different age groups. The majority of patients with psychosocial concerns can be managed with psychotherapy.