A psychoeducational intervention reduces the need for anesthesia during radiotherapy for young childhood cancer patients

Table 1 Clinical Characteristics of Group A (no intervention) and Group B (intervention)

	Group A No Intervention		Group B Intervention		P
	N	(%)	N	(%)
Number of RT courses	154	63.1%	90	36.9%
Number of RT fractions	2580	62.3%	1561	37.7%
Sex
Male	103	66.9%	61	67.8%
Female	51	33.1%	29	32.2%
Age
Median	7.9		8.1
Mean	9		8.9
Range	0.0 – 19.0		1.6 – 19.1
Anesthesia
Yes	33	21.4%	8	8.9%	p = 0.015
No	121	78.6%	82	91.1%
Age of those with anesthesia (Years)
Median	3.2		2.7		p < 0.001
Mean	3.2		2.7
Range	0.0 – 12.0		1.6 – 4.3
Standard Deviation	2.1		0.9
Total dose of irradiation (Gray)
Median	24.0		20.0
Mean	28.9		31.2
Range *	4.0 – 59.4		6.0 – 68.0
Standard Deviation	16.8		19.0
Total times of irradiation
Median	12.5		12.0
Mean	16.8		17.3
Range	1.0 – 54.0		3.0 – 36.0
Standard Deviation	10.3		10.6
Diagnostic group
CNS tumor	31	20.1%	25	27.8%
Leukemia/Lymphoma	67	43.5%	43	47.8%
Solid tumor	56	36.4%	22	24.4%
Site of irradiation
Cranial irradiation	98	63.6%	56	62.2%
Extracranial irradiation	56	36.4%	34	37.8%
Positioning
Prone position	19	12.3%	19	21.1%
Supine position	129	83.8%	64	71.1%
Other position	6	3.9%	7	7.8%
Intent of Radiotherapy
Curative	132	85.7%	83	92.2%
Palliative	22	14.3%	7	7.8%

Calculation of clinical characteristics is based on number of RT courses and not RT fractions.
In 6 patients in group A and 4 patients in group B low total irradiation dosages of 4 to 6 Gray were applied for pain reduction for palliative treatment, and 4.5 and 6 Gray in a curative setting in two infants with neuroblastoma in Group B.

ISSN: 1748-717X