Participants and Setting
Participants were recruited from survivorship clinics at an academic children’s hospital and an academic cancer center. Inclusion criteria for participation were as follows: 1) History of cancer diagnosed prior to age o18; 2) Aged 15-24 years at time of study; 2) Treatment consisting of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy; 3) Completion of therapy a minimum of two years prior to study participation; and 4) English-speaking and reading (due to PROMIS SexFS Brief availability). Patients who did not have sufficient cognitive functioning to participate in all study measures, as determined by their clinician, were excluded. The age range of 15-24 was selected based on the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) definitions for “youth”.23,24 This age range also near-mirrors previous studies evaluating barriers to communication in this specific population.16
Due to confidentiality concerns, a waiver of parental consent was obtained; thus, eligible patients were enrolled and self-consented, regardless of age. Recruitment was completed consecutively through existing clinic visits; to achieve maximum thematic variation across age and gender (self-identified), we purposefully enrolled a minimum of 10 patients of each gender (self-identified) and a minimum of 10 patients in each of two age groups (15-19 and 20-24 years). Upon the completion of the interview, each participant received a $50 gift card.