Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39673027›Full record

ArticleJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2026

The decision to disclose to your child they are a childhood cancer survivor: a qualitative study of barriers and facilitators using the theoretical domain framework.

Jennifer Shuldiner, Bridgette Lord, Emma Rinaldo, Nida Shah, Patricia Nguyen, Emily Lam, Anne Marie Corrado, Jonathan D Wasserman, Aisha Lofters, Luana Pereira and 5 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Jennifer ShuldinerWomen's College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada. Jennifer.shuldiner@wchospital.ca.
Bridgette LordThe Peter Gilgan Centre for Women's Cancers, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Emma RinaldoThe Peter Gilgan Centre for Women's Cancers, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Nida ShahChild Health Evaluative Sciences, SickKids Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
Patricia NguyenThe Peter Gilgan Centre for Women's Cancers, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Emily LamChild Health Evaluative Sciences, SickKids Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
Anne Marie CorradoThe Peter Gilgan Centre for Women's Cancers, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Jonathan D WassermanThe Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Aisha LoftersThe Peter Gilgan Centre for Women's Cancers, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Luana PereiraThe Peter Gilgan Centre for Women's Cancers, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Elaine GoulbourneThe Peter Gilgan Centre for Women's Cancers, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Ruth HeiseyThe Peter Gilgan Centre for Women's Cancers, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sharon L GugerThe Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Joel TourignyThe Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Paul NathanThe Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeChildhood cancer survivors are at increased lifetime risk of morbidity and mortality, but adherence to periodic surveillance is suboptimal. One of the reasons that adult survivors of childhood cancer do not complete the recommended surveillance is that their parents may not have disclosed their cancer history to them. We sought to identify key barriers and enablers to talking to children about their cancer history.

methodSemi-structured interviews were completed with parents of childhood cancer survivors who had delayed telling their child about their cancer diagnosis. The theoretical domain framework (TDF) informed the interview guide and analysis. Interview transcripts were coded line-by-line and mapped to domains in accordance with the framework.

resultsTwelve interviews were conducted with parents of childhood cancer survivors. Parents expressed a desire to protect their children from the knowledge and awareness that they had cancer, as they thought it could lead to hypervigilance and impact their child's identity (TDF domain: belief about consequences). Parents were also afraid the conversation would "trigger" emotions for themselves related to the time their child had cancer (emotion). Due to these barriers, it was the influence of the clinical team that was described as the driving push to having this difficult conversation (social influences). Parents also had a strong conviction that their child had the right to know and that they could use this information to protect themselves and stay healthy (motivation). DISCUSSION: Parents thought telling their child they had cancer was important because "knowledge is power" and their child "has the right to know." However, this was a difficult conversation that was often avoided. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: This study confirms the need for an intervention that encourages and supports parents to have this difficult conversation with their child.

Indexed as

Cancer SurvivorsDecision MakingNeoplasmsParentsTruth DisclosureAdolescentAdultChildFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchCancerChildhood cancer survivorsLate-effectsSurvivorship

Identifiers

PMID39673027

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.