Differences in activities of daily living performance between long-term pediatric sarcoma survivors and a matched comparison group on standardized testing.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND: In a cross-sectional study examining late effects of pediatric sarcoma therapy, long-term survivors were evaluated on their activities of daily living (ADL) performance. PROCEDURE: Thirty-two persons with Ewing sarcoma family of tumors, rhabdomyosarcoma, and non-rhabdomysarcoma-soft tissue sarcoma enrolled an average of 17 years after treatment. Participants were evaluated using the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) 1, a standardized observational evaluation of ADL task performance. Means and 95% confidence intervals for ADL motor and ADL process ability measures were calculated for four groups: (1) sarcoma survivors, (2) "well" adults matched for age and gender, (3) "well" adults matched for gender that were 10 years older, and (4) "well" adults matched for gender that were 20 years older. RESULTS: ADL motor ability was significantly lower for sarcoma survivors than for the age- and gender-matched comparison group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between ADL motor ability of sarcoma survivors and the comparison group 10 years older, but sarcoma survivors had significantly better ADL motor ability (P < 0.05) than the oldest comparison group (20 years older). Sarcoma survivors had significantly worse ADL process ability than the age-matched group (P < 0.05). There was no difference in ADL process ability between the sarcoma survivors and comparison groups that were 10 and 20 years older. CONCLUSIONS: This first report of a clinical evaluation of ADL limitation in pediatric sarcoma survivors treated with intensive multimodal cancer therapy suggests that influences on performance of daily life activities are more common than previously reported.

Author information

Author/s: Parks, Rebecca (R); Rasch, Elizabeth K (EK); Mansky, Patrick J (PJ); Oakley, Frances (F);

Affiliation: Rehabilitation Medicine Department, Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. rparks(-atsign-)nih.gov

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

Journal: Pediatric blood & cancer (Pediatr Blood Cancer), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Oct; vol 53 (issue 4) : pp 622-8

Dates: Created 2009/08/24; Completed 2009/09/08;

PMID: 19533662, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 9/8/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2009 Oct;53(4):531-2. (PMID: 19588522)

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