Integration of Palliative Care in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant: Pediatric Patient and Parent Needs and Attitudes

Abstract

Context: Early integration of palliative care (PC) in hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has demonstrated benefits, yet barriers remain, including perceived lack of patient/caregiver receptivity despite no data on attitudes toward PC and limited patient/caregiver reported outcomes in pediatric HCT.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate perceived symptom burden and patient/parent attitudes toward early PC integration in pediatric HCT.

Methods: Following IRB approval, consent/assent, eligible participants were surveyed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital including English-speaking patients aged 10-17, 1-month to 1-year from HCT, and their parents/primary-caregivers, as well as parent/primary-caregivers of living HCT recipients <age-10. Data were assessed for trends in response content frequencies, percentages, and associations.

Results: Eighty one participants, within one year of HCT, at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital were enrolled including: 36 parents of patients<age-10, 24 parents of patients ≥age-10, and 21 patients≥age-10. Most (65%) were 1-3 months from HCT. Analysis revealed high levels of perceived symptom suffering in the first month of HCT. 85.7% of patients and 73.4% of parents expressed that a-great-deal/a-lot of attention should be paid to quality-of-life from the start of HCT. Most respondents (patients-52.4/parents-50%) indicated they would likely have wanted early PC consult and very few (0%-patients/3.3%-parents) reported definite opposition to early PC involvement in HCT.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that patient/family receptivity should not be a barrier to early PC in pediatric HCT; obtaining patient reported outcomes is a priority in the setting of high symptom burden; and robust quality-of-life directed care with early PC integration is both indicated and acceptable to patients/caregivers.

Keywords: Palliative care; caregivers; hematopoietic cell transplantation; patients; pediatrics; quality of life.