Table 3.
Results of Delphi Round 3: Overall Rank Order of Topics by Importance for Inclusion in Education Prior to Initial Hospital Discharge.
| Educational Topic | Rank Order | Mean-Rank Score |
|---|---|---|
| Topics for all newly diagnosed pediatric oncology patients (1 = most important; 18 = least important) | ||
| Diagnosis | 1 | 16.66 |
| Treatment plan | 2 | 14.18 |
| Fever | 3 | 12.23 |
| Prognosis | 4 | 11.43 |
| Side effects of treatment | 5 | 11.32 |
| Who/how to call (eg, days, nights, weekends) | 6 | 10.98 |
| When/why to call treatment team | 7 | 10.70 |
| Clinical trials | 8 | 9.91 |
| Managing medications | 9 | 9.34 |
| Central line care | 10 | 8.98 |
| Care of the child at home | 11 | 8.89 |
| Supportive care | 12 | 7.73 |
| Health care team (key members) | 12 | 7.73 |
| Preventing infection | 14 | 7.20 |
| Blood counts | 15 | 6.68 |
| Follow-up appointments | 16 | 6.45 |
| Fertility preservation options | 17 | 5.84 |
| Psychosocial issues | 18 | 4.75 |
| Additional topics for leukemia/lymphoma patients only (1 = most important; 8 = least important) | ||
| Neutropenic precautions | 1 | 6.58 |
| Medication adherence | 2 | 6.47 |
| Steroid side effects | 3 | 5.44 |
| Vincristine side effects | 4 | 4.65 |
| Bleeding precautions | 5 | 4.44 |
| Procedures | 6 | 3.72 |
| Nutrition | 7 | 2.40 |
| Anemia | 8 | 2.30 |
| Additional topics for solid tumor patients only (1 = most important; 7 = least important) | ||
| Postoperative/wound care | 1 | 5.59 |
| Pain | 2 | 5.57 |
| Safety | 3 | 4.27 |
| Pegfilgrastim/G-CSF (neupogenTM) | 4 | 3.57 |
| Physical limitations | 5 | 3.48 |
| Local control: surgery and/or radiation | 6 | 2.82 |
| Nutrition | 7 | 2.70 |
| Additional topics for CNS tumor patients only (1 = most important; 8 = least important) | ||
| Increased intracranial pressure | 1 | 7.58 |
| Postoperative/wound care | 2 | 6.03 |
| Safety | 3 | 5.55 |
| Steroid side effects | 4 | 4.61 |
| Physical limitations | 5 | 3.61 |
| Radiation | 6 | 2.97 |
| Cognitive limitations | 7 | 2.92 |
| Rehabilitation | 8 | 2.74 |
Abbreviations: CNS, central nervous system; G-CSF; granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.