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Abstract

Background: Chemotherapy is the common cancer treatment in childhood. During chemotherapy, symptoms may vary in severity each day. This study aimed to compare children's self-reports and caregivers' perceptions of symptoms of children with cancer on their first day and the third day of chemotherapy.

Methods: This study was a comparative descriptive study. The convenience sampling method was used to recruit 51 children with cancer, aged 8 to 15 years old, who received chemotherapy at a super-tertiary hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, and their caregivers. Data were collected using the Thai version of the Symptom Screening in Pediatrics Tool (SSPedi) for children and caregivers. The Mann-Whitney U test and Cohen’s kappa statistic was used for data analysis.

Results:The results of the study showed that on the first day of chemotherapy in children and caregivers, there was a statistically significant difference in only 1 of the 15 symptoms assessed (p

Conclusion: Healthcare providers may encourage caregivers to participate in assessing their children's symptoms. They can also establish guidelines to increase caregivers’ participation in assessing symptoms of children during the chemotherapy period.

Keywords: Cancer, Caregivers, Chemotherapy, Children, Symptoms, Thailand

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