Abstract
The objectives of the study were to describe quality of life (QoL), identify predictors of worse QoL and examine QoL during different phases of active therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). A multiinstitutional crossโsectional study was performed in children with ALL. We included children at least 2 months from diagnosis who were receiving treatment in first remission. Parents described QoL using the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales and the PedsQL 3.0 Acute Cancer Module. The 206 children on treatment for ALL had overall [median 62.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 34.8โ94.4], physical (median 62.5, 95% CI 18.8โ100.0) and psychosocial (median 65.4, 95% CI 38.3โ94.2) summary scores that were one to two standard deviations lower than population norms. In highโrisk ALL, girls and older children had worse QoL. In standardโrisk ALL, those with lower household incomes and unmarried parents had worse QoL. QoL scores were generally constant across phases of ALL therapy. Children on therapy for ALL have lower QoL compared to healthy children. Age and gender predicted QoL in highโrisk ALL, whereas socioeconomics predicted QoL in standardโrisk ALL. Future efforts should focus on longitudinal studies that describe QoL over time within individual patients.