Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Mar 26, 2020
Date Accepted: Jul 7, 2020
Aftercare of Childhood Cancer Survivors in Switzerland – the ACCS Switzerland Project: Protocol for a Prospective Multicenter Observational Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Most children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer will become long-term survivors. For most of them regular follow-up examinations to detect and treat late effects are necessary – especially in adulthood. The transition from pediatric to adult-focused follow-up care is a critical moment for childhood cancer survivors (CCS) and a substantial proportion get lost in this transition process and do not attend follow-up care in adulthood anymore. This can have serious effects on the survivors’ health as late effects are discovered late.
Objective:
With this study, we assess the needs and knowledge of adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer who transition from pediatric to adult-focused follow-up care. The aim is to identify important factors for CCS, which can be implemented in the transition process and long-term follow-up care to improve adherence to follow-up care in adulthood.
Methods:
The Aftercare of Childhood Cancer Survivors in Switzerland (ACCS) study is a prospective, multicenter, observational study, which has been approved by the ethics committee in February 2019. We recruit CCS from three pediatric oncology clinics. We use questionnaires, which incorporate validated scales to assess CCS’ readiness to transition, to answer the study questions.
Results:
To date, we have recruited 58 participants. The study is ongoing, and recruitment of participants will continue until January 2021.
Conclusions:
The ACCS study collects detailed information on CCS’ preferences and expectations on follow-up care and its transition into the adult setting. The results will help to improve long-term follow-up care and cancer knowledge of CCS by enhancing adherence to follow-up care and reducing loss to follow-up in adulthood. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04284189
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