Investigation Into the Impact of Technology-Based Motivation Program Applied to the Children Followed With Cancer Diagnosis and Their Families: A Randomized Controlled Study

Design The study was conducted in two hospitals at Leukemia Polyclinic, Paediatric Haematology and Oncology Polyclinic, and Paediatric Haematology-Oncology Service from September 2019 to August 2020.

Setting and Samples In determining the research population, hospital registry information was used, and 119 children followed up with a diagnosis of cancer formed the research population. The sample of the research consisted of 44 children (leukaemia n = 33, solid tumour n = 11) and their primary caregivers meeting the inclusion criteria.

Randomization and blinding A stratified randomization method was used in the research. 44 children (leukaemia and solid tumour) who met the inclusion criteria were grouped according to gender (male and female) and age (9-13 years-14-18 years) and eight layers were obtained. Among the identified strata, intervention and control groups were randomized by an independent statistician using the website www.randomizer.org, 22 children were assigned to the intervention, and 22 to the control group. Five children from the intervention group and five children from the control group (unreachable (n=3), ex (n=1), refusal (n=4), Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) performed (n=1), intensive care unit admission (n=1)) could not be included in the research for various reasons and 34 children were included in the research. The purpose and content of the research were explained without informing the children and their primary caregivers that they were in the intervention or control group.

At the end of the research, the power analysis performed by using the mean scores of State Anxiety Inventory for Children with G * Power 3.0.10 program yielded a total of at least 28 samples that were found to be sufficient with 90% power and 5% margin of error (n1 = 14; n2 = 14).

Theoretical underpinnings The use of models is important in establishing the theoretical framework of research. In this research, the Transactional Stress and Coping Model of Lazarus and Folkman, which is the most widely used model in studies examining the coping and anxiety levels of children with cancer diagnosis, was used. The practices in the motivation program were created for the coping strategies of "seeking social support, self-control, positive evaluation and accepting responsibility" in the model.