Assessment of Health-related Quality of Life Among Parents of Children with Solid Tumors in Serbia

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and contributing factors among parents of children with solid tumors in Serbia.

Methods: The cross-sectional study included 51 parents of children treated for different solid tumors at the Institute of Oncology and Radiology of Serbia. Parents filled out validated Serbian version of SF-36 questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify predictors of total score of SF-36.

Results: Almost all parents (94.1%) were mothers and average age was 38.6 ± 6.7 years. Majority of children had brain tumors (43.1%), followed by bone tumors (37.3%). The hierarchical regression analysis showed that socio-demographic characteristics explained 26% of the variance (p > 0.05) of the total score of SF-36. Addition of quality of life of children assessed by parents in the second model caused an increase of 21% in the variance explained (p < 0.05). After adding the Beck Depression Inventory score in the third block, an additional 18% of the variance in total score was explained (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: This study showed that HRQoL measured by SF-36 in parents of children with cancer is strongly influenced by depression and quality of life of children assessed by parents.