When children are treated with chemotherapy or medicine for their cancer, there is a chance that they may develop many symptoms, including tiredness, nausea, pain or changes in appetite because of this treatment. We have developed an app on an iPad that children with cancer can use to tell their doctors and nurses about how they are feeling. It has been called SSPedi. SSPedi has 15 short questions that ask about how much a symptom is bothering a child. The SSPedi app has some important features to make sure it is easy for children to use: there is audio for children that would like to have SSPedi read aloud to them and also a help menu for children that would like more description on each SSPedi item. At the end of SSPedi, children can add any other things that have been bothering them lately. There is also a fun dog in the app that gives instructions on how to use SSPedi.
We are still working on finishing the SSPedi app and are testing it to make sure it is a really good way to measure symptoms and how children with cancer are feeling. Once we know SSPedi is a good way to measure symptoms, we hope that children with cancer can use SSPedi to communicate about their symptoms so that doctors and nurses can treat them quickly. We hope SSPedi can help improve the quality of life for children with cancer.
Dr. Lillian Sung is a Senior Scientist in Child Health Evaluative Sciences at The Hospital for Sick Children and a Pediatric Oncologist at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She is also an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto. Dr. Sung’s research program hopes to find ways to improve quality of life for children receiving treatment for cancer.