A study looking at a way of reducing distress caused by treatment for leukaemia in children

It is unclear from the results whether the workshops improved the children’s quality of life.

This was a randomised study. 58 people took part. They were put into 1 of 2 treatment groups. Neither they nor their doctor could choose which group they were in.

• 26 children started the workshops immediately 
• 32 children had a delay before starting the workshops

The trial team looked at whether the people’s quality of life had improved after the workshops. They also looked whether the workshops improved emotional and behavioural problems.

It is unclear from the results whether the workshops improved the children’s quality of life. There was no improvement in the group who had the workshops immediately. There was a slight improvement in the children who had the workshops after a delay. 

They found that children who had received their diagnosis longer before the workshops had higher quality of life scores when they were assessed at week 1.

The trial team found that the workshops hadn’t improved emotional and behavioural problems. 

We have based this summary on information from the research team.  As far as we are aware, the information they sent us has not been reviewed independently (peer reviewed ) or published in a medical journal yet. The figures we quote above were provided by the research team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.