NCT03983148

Motivational Interviewing With Parents to Adopt and Maintain Physical Activity

Status unknown NA Last updated 4 November 2020

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Motivational interviewing in Pediatric Cancer in 66 participants. Status unknown.

Timeline

1 June 2019

Primary endpoint
30 August 2021

30 August 2021

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	The University of Hong Kong
Phase	NA
Status	Status unknown
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	supportive care
Enrollment	66
Start date	1 June 2019
Primary completion	30 August 2021
Estimated completion	30 August 2021
Sites	1 location across Hong Kong

Drugs / interventions tested

• Motivational interviewing
• Placebo control

Conditions studied

• Pediatric Cancer — all drugs for Pediatric Cancer →

Sponsor

The University of Hong Kong

Who can join

Adults 9 to 16, any sex, with Pediatric Cancer. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Cancer-related fatigue is the most commonly reported symptom among children with cancer and its effect is long-lasting, remaining for years after treatment.Childhood cancer patients undergo chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy that impairs their normal body tissue and fitness. Consequently, cardiorespiratory function and muscle strength decrease, and fatigue is inevitable. More importantly, these complications do not disappear, but continue for months or even years after completion of therapy.

Increasing concern has been placed on the benefits of regular physical activity (PA) among young cancer patients to improve cardiovascular fitness, ameliorate fatigue, and reduce some of the adverse effects of cancer and its treatment. Various studies have shown improvements in quality of life among young patients undergoing cancer treatment by performing regular physical activity. However, the literature review found that most young cancer patients maintain a lower level of PA than before their diagnosis.

A recent study revealed that the current PA levels of Hong Kong young cancer patients were markedly reduced when compared with their pre-morbid situation. Moreover, they were significantly less active in performing physical exercise, and reported lower levels of quality of life than their healthy counterparts. These findings reveal a crucial obligation of health care professionals to advocate the significance of regular PA among young cancer patients.

It is crucial for healthcare to correct misconceptions about PA among parents of children with cancer and advocate the principle of regular PA for their children, with the aim of enhancing their physical and psychological wellbeing and promoting their quality of life. Nevertheless, a large body of evidence has shown that education alone is insufficient or unlikely to change behavior, and healthcare professionals must therefore explore strategies that can actually be effective in helping parents realize the importance of regular physical activities for their children with cancer. Most importantly, healthcare professionals should motivate parents, as the primary caregivers, especially during children's cancer treatment, to take an important role in encouraging their children with cancer to adopt regular PA.

This study aims at testing the effectiveness of using motivational interviewing with parents in encouraging their children with cancer to adopt and maintain regular physical activity.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial.