Clinical trial · Interventional
Cognitive-behavioural Intervention for Anxiety, Depression and Quality of Life Among Children Receiving Chemotherapy.
Effects of a Cognitive-behavioural Intervention on Anxiety, Depression and Quality of Life Among Ethiopian Children With Haematological Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy.
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
The diagnosis and treatment of paediatric cancer is the most stressful experience for children and their families. Nearly all paediatric cancer patients are presented with at least one psychosocial problem, of which, anxiety and depression often coexist and are most frequently reported. Poorly managed anxiety and depression causes emotional and behavioural problems, impairs relationships and functioning, decreases adhere to treatment, increases the burden of symptoms and significantly impacts quality of life and prognosis. Despite the high rates and negative impacts of anxiety and depression in paediatric oncology, they are poorly managed. Thus, to mitigate the burden of anxiety, depression and impaired quality of life, an age-appropriate cognitive-behavioural intervention shows promise when incorporated with the existing pharmacologic interventions. This study aims to test how effective cognitive-behavioural intervention is to improve anxiety, depression and quality of life of children during chemotherapy. The study will be conducted in two hospitals in Ethiopia and include 8-18-year-old children with haematological cancer receiving chemotherapy, able to communicate with the local language, Amharic, able to provide parental consent and child assent, and without history of developmental, psychological, psychiatric, hearing or speech problems. The study will enroll up to 80 participants and randomise them into two groups, one group will receive a cognitive-behavioural intervention and the the other group will receive the usual psychosocial care provided by staff nurses. Participants in the cognitive-behavioural intervention group will receive five sessions of individual face to face cognitive-behavioural intervention. Each session will last approximately 30-35 minutes a week and supplemented by home-based practices. This study will use different intervention delivery strategies including psychoeducation, guided discovery or Socratic questioning, discussion, drawing, painting or writing, and play depending on the content of each session and maturity of the child. The levels of anxiety, depression and quality of life will be measured before the intervention, after the intervention and one month after completion of the intervention in both groups.
Conditions
Conditions (4)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anxiety | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Depression | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Hematologic Malignancy | Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Cell Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Quality of Life | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive-behavioural intervention | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Cognitive-behavioural intervention
- description
- Five sessions of cognitive-behavioural intervention will be delivered on a weekly basis.
- interventionNames
- Other: Cognitive-behavioural intervention
- type
- NO_INTERVENTION
- label
- Usual care
- description
- Participants in the control group will receive the usual psychosocial care provided by the staff nurses. To offer them attention, a research assistant in each hospital will meet them every week for 30 minutes to ask them about treatment adherence and any other concerns. The parents will be invited to attend it if they want to do so. Each participant will be given an appointment slip and reminded with a phone call two days before the next appointment. For participants whose medical appointment is more than a week, the research will contact them via phone.
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Change in anxiety level
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 8 Years
- Maximum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: 1. 8 to 18-year-old children 2. Diagnosed with haematological cancer 3. Receiving chemotherapy 4. Able to communicate (speak, read and write) with the local language, Amharic 5. Able to provide written parental consent and oral child assent Exclusion Criteria: 1. Have a history of developmental problems, psychological or psychiatric illness 2. Unable to collaborate in the study due to acute illness 3. Have hearing or speech problems
References
Publications (17)
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- BACKGROUNDLi HC, Williams PD, Lopez V, Chung JO, Chiu SY. Relationships among therapy-related symptoms, depressive symptoms, and quality of life in Chinese children hospitalized with cancer: an exploratory study. Cancer Nurs. 2013 Sep-Oct;36(5):346-54. doi: 10.1097/NCC.0b013e31824062ec.