MedPath

TICOP Mobile App and E-platform: Providing Information and Support for Parents Caring for Their Child Cancer Survivor

Not Applicable
Withdrawn
Conditions
Mobile Application
Interventions
Other: TICOP
Registration Number
NCT03945032
Lead Sponsor
Vander Haegen Marie
Brief Summary

This study aims to develop a mobile App (named "TICOP") for parents of a childhood cancer survivor and an E-Platform for health professionals which work in pediatric oncology area.

The core objective is to evaluate the effects of these two digital tools (mobile app and platform) in the detection and prevention among parents of a childhood cancer survivor.

Detailed Description

Parents of a childhood cancer survivor face ongoing social, and psychological challenges that may result in enduring illness and caregiving related distress and vulnerabilities. It has been described namely: post posttraumatic stress symptoms \[PTSS\], lingering worries, anxiety and depression. While strategies and interventions to minimize the child's distress have become part of comprehensive medical care in paediatrics, it also becomes urgent to develop research into parents of a childhood cancer survivor in order to: \[1\] train the medical staff to identify the serious issue of parental distress ; \[2\] detect other markers of vulnerabilities (e.g. pessimism, anxiety trait) and \[3\] provide them with a personalized psychological intervention. This would allow vigilance of the medical staff in detecting parents' distress and could defuse their descent into a vicious circle of psychosocial difficulties.

Up to now, empirical findings suggest the importance to develop a screening tool for parents of a CCS in order to detect any parent who presents several difficulties and to propose personal intervention. To the investigator's knowledge, there is no tool to detect and prevent psychological distress among parents of a childhood cancer survivor.

The TICOP mobile app consists of seven axis of evaluation and detection for parents of a childhood cancer survivor:

Parent moves the cursor by analogy on their mobile phone (as a visual anagogic scale) four times per year (baseline; month 4; month 8 and month 12).

Axis 1: sociodemographic (e.g. gender, marital status) (14 items) Axis 2: psychosomatic symptoms (insomnia, migraine) (16 items) Axis 3: psychological symptoms (e.g. depression, anxiety) (13 items) Axis 4: parental needs (e.g. social support, information) (9 items) Axis 5: parental resources (e.g. emotional support) (8 items) Axis 6: parental risk factors (e.g. anxiety, intolerant of uncertainty) (5 items) Axis 7: parental protective factors (e.g. optimistic,extraverted) (6 items)

All information will be automatically sent in real time into the E-platform. This digital tool allows to obtain a parental state follow-up for the health professional (e.g. oncologist, psycho-oncologist).

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
WITHDRAWN
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
Not specified
Inclusion Criteria
  • Parent of a childhood cancer survivor (mother and father)
  • Child who had been diagnosed in remission since 1 years until 10 years (without relapse)
  • Neoadjuvant chemotherapy during treatments
  • Fluency in French speaking
  • No previous evidence of mental illness.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Diagnosis of cancer treated only by surgery or radiotherapy (with no adjuvant chemotherapy)
  • Benign tumor
  • Child has a relapse or died
  • Non-French-speaking parents
  • previous evidence of mental illness.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
8 parents of a childhood cancer survivorTICOPParent moves the cursor by analogy on their mobile phone (as a visual anagogic scale) four times per year (baseline; month 4; month 8 and month 12).
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Parental resources (created for the needs of the study)Measure assessing change between four time points (change from Baseline at 4 months, 8 months and 12 months)

8 items ranged between 0% at 100% \[Visual Analog Scale\]

Parental risk factors (created for the needs of the study)Measure assessing change between four time points (change from Baseline at 4 months, 8 months and 12 months)

5 paired-items ranged between 0% at 100% \[Visual Analog Scale\]

Note. Results are significant when the score is above 25% for one single item with at least two occurrences over time period.

Sociodemographic questionnaire (parents of a childhood cancer survivor) (created for the needs of the study)Baseline

14 items (multiple-choice response)

Psychological symptoms (created for the needs of the study)Measure assessing change between four time points (change from Baseline at 4 months, 8 months and 12 months)

13 items ranged between 0% at 100% \[Visual Analog Scale\] Scale range : 0 = rarely; 1 = occasionally ; 2 = often; 3 = mostly

Note. Results are significant when the score is above 25% for one single item with at least two occurrences over time period.

Parental needs (created for the needs of the study)Measure assessing change between four time points (change from Baseline at 4 months, 8 months and 12 months)

9 items ranged between 0% at 100% \[Visual Analog Scale\]

Parental protective factors (created for the needs of the study)Measure assessing change between four time points (change from Baseline at 4 months, 8 months and 12 months)

6 paired-items ranged between 0% at 100% \[Visual Analog Scale\]

Note. Results are significant when the score is above 25% for one single item with at least two occurrences over time period.

Psychosomatic symptoms (created for the needs of the study)Measure assessing change between four time points (change from Baseline at 4 months, 8 months and 12 months)

16 items ranged between 0% at 100% \[Visual Analog Scale\] Scale range : 0 = rarely; 1 = occasionally ; 2 = often; 3 = mostly

Note. Results are significant when the score is above 25% for one single item with at least two occurrences over time period.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Liège (Unit: Health Psychology)

🇧🇪

Liège, Belgium

© Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved by MedPath