The Assessment of Quality of Life, Depression and Anxiety in Siblings of Children with Cancer: A Case-Control Study

OBJECTIVE Pediatric cancers may have traumatic, adverse effects on healthy siblings of children with cancer. The majority of studies on the subject have been performed in Western societies, and few controlled studies implementing validated surveys have been performed. The aim of this study is to investigate the quality of life, prevalence of anxiety and depression and associated factors in healthy siblings of children with cancer. METHODS Sixty children aged 8-16 years-old with siblings with cancer were included as the case group and sixty children with siblings without cancer were enrolled as the control group. The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCAD-S) and the Questionnaire for Quality of Life Assessment for Children and Adolescents Parent Form (Kid-KINDL) were used to evaluate anxiety/depression symptoms and quality of life respectively. RESULTS The case group consisted of 30 boys and 30 girls (12.08 +/- 2.61 years), and the control group of 31 boys and 29 girls (11.40 +/- 2.11 years). Depression/anxiety symptoms were significantly higher in the case group than in the control group (p<0.05). Quality of life total score was significantly lower in the case group than in the control group (p<0.05). Being siblings of same gender was determined to be associated with impaired quality of life (B=8.81 CI: 1.56-49.65, p=0.014) and presence of depression/anxiety (B=6.89 CI: 1.29-36.72, p=0.024). CONCLUSION Professionals should include healthy siblings of children with cancer when assessing the psychosocial effect of pediatric cancer, and should adopt a multidimensional approach in caring for healthy siblings of children with cancer.