Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Apr;8(2):105-113.
doi: 10.1089/jayao.2018.0111. Epub 2018 Nov 29.

Factors Affecting Adolescents' Willingness to Communicate Symptoms During Cancer Treatment: A Systematic Review from the Children's Oncology Group

Colleen A McLaughlin  1 , Kristi Gordon  2 , Jennifer Hoag  3 , Lori Ranney  4 , Nancy B Terwilliger  2 , Tonya Ureda  5 , Cheryl Rodgers  6
Affiliations

Factors Affecting Adolescents' Willingness to Communicate Symptoms During Cancer Treatment: A Systematic Review from the Children's Oncology Group

Colleen A McLaughlin et al. J Adolesc Young Adult Oncol. 2019 Apr.

Abstract

The purpose of this systematic review is to (1) synthesize evidence facilitators and barriers affecting adolescent willingness to communicate symptoms to health care providers (HCPs) and (2) create practice recommendations. The PICOT (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Time) question guiding the review was, among adolescents with cancer, what factors affect their willingness to communicate symptoms to HCPs? Three databases, PubMed, CINAHL, and PsychINFO, were searched using keywords from the PICOT question. Inclusion criteria included original research studies with samples of at least 51% adolescents aged 10-18 years who were receiving or had received cancer treatment. Studies were included that evaluated outcomes related to willingness to communicate in general as well as communication of specific treatment symptoms. Exclusion criteria included systematic reviews and publications emphasizing cancer screening, cancer prevention, survivorship, or decision making. A total of 11 studies were included in the systematic review. Two of the studies focused on symptom communication; the remaining nine studies focused on general communication or the overlap between general and symptom communication. Barriers to symptom and/or general communication included negative expectations, health-related uncertainty, ambiguousness with assessments, unfamiliarity, restriction of information, perceived negative provider characteristics/behaviors, adolescent circumstance, worry about others' perceptions, and provider approach. Facilitators to symptom and/or general communication included open communication, perceived favorable provider characteristics/behaviors, seasoned adolescent, and patient-provider rapport. Five practice recommendations were developed from the evidence that supports general and symptom communication between adolescents who are receiving or have completed cancer treatment and their HCPs.

Keywords: adolescents; barriers; cancer; facilitators; symptom communication.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No competing financial interests exist.

Figures

<b>FIG. 1.</b>
FIG. 1.
PRISMA diagram.
<b>FIG. 2.</b>
FIG. 2.
Barriers of adolescents' willingness to communicate.
<b>FIG. 3.</b>
FIG. 3.
Facilitators of adolescents' willingness to communicate.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. D'Agostino NM, Penney A, Zebrack B. Providing developmentally appropriate psychosocial care to adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. Cancer. 2011;117(10 Suppl):2329–34 - PubMed
    1. Belpame N, Kars MC, Beechman D, et al. . “The AYA director”: a synthesizing concept to understand psychosocial experiences of adolescents and young adults with cancer. Cancer Nurs. 2016;39(4):292–302 - PubMed
    1. Sowell ER, Peterson BS, Thompson PM, et al. . Mapping cortical change across the human life span. Nat Neurosci. 2003;6(3):309–15 - PubMed
    1. Ciccia AH, Meulenbroek P, Turkstra LS. Adolescent brain and cognitive developments. Top Lang Disord. 2009;29(3):249–65 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bauer M. Language development in teens. 2015. Accessed June26, 2018 from: https://www.livestrong.com/article/226031-language-development-in-teenagers

Publication types