Fanny Delehaye

and 12 more

Background The posttreatment period is a key part of the management of pediatric cancer care. At this period, psychosocial effects (scholarly and psychological difficulties) have been described in pediatric cancer patients and can be prognostic for the success of social reintegration. Psychosocial effects and their impact may be related to the household’s socioeconomic background. The aim of this study was to estimate psychosocial difficulties during the posttreatment period based on a social deprivation score. Design This study is based on a prospective multicentric study database, and focused on the children who had received psychosocial evaluation during their follow-up after cancer treatment since 01/01/2013. We retrieved data on their learning and psychological difficulties. Socioeconomic status of the household was estimated by a social deprivation score. Results 1003 patients were analyzed. Learning difficulties at school were noted in 22% of patients. A greater social deprivation was significantly associated with learning difficulty (OR=1.09 per unit of the deprivation score). Tumor relapse, treatment with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and diagnosis of a CNS tumor remained significant risk factors. In the subgroup analysis of children with CNS tumors, learning difficulties were increased and associated with greater social deprivation. By contrast, psychological difficulties were not associated with the deprivation score. Conclusion There is a link between SE status and learning difficulties in survivors of childhood cancer. Further investigations should be carried out to confirm these results for children with CNS tumors, which is the population of the greatest concern.