الفهرس 
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Abstract
Cancer is the name given to a collection of related diseases. In all types of cancer, cancer is the second leading cause of death in children. Some of the body’s cells begin to divide without stopping and spreading into the surrounding tissues. Myths are false beliefs or ideas that can interfere with the child’s treatment and affect the mothers who are usually the main caregivers for their children suffering from cancer. Therefore, it is important to assess their perception about myths and realities of cancer treatment modalities that affect the maternal care provided to their children. Also, the nurse has an indispensable role in the care of oncological children and their mothers (Moynihan, 2018).
Aim of the study:
The study aimed to assess pediatric patients suffering from cancer and their mother’s perception of myths and realities related to cancer treatment modalities.
Setting:
This study was carried out at Dar EL Salam Hospital affiliate to the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Subject of the study:
A purposive sample of 65 children attending the above-mentioned setting from both genders aged from 10≤ 18 years and treated with any cancer treatment modalities during the study period (six months, from 1st of January 2019 to the end of June 2019). Also, 35 mothers accompanying their children were included. The terminally ill children were excluded.
Data collection tool:
The data was collected by using:
Questionnaire format: the tool was constructed by the researcher by the Arabic language after reviewing the related literature and studies; as the following:
Part (1): Personal characteristics data of the children (children’s age, gender, education, rank, diagnosis, duration of illness and treatment modality), family characteristics (residence, number of family members, sibling number and monthly income), and housing condition (ventilation, water supply, sewage disposal, floors, and toilet condition). Also, it included data about the studied mothers’ age, education, and job.
Part (2): Including eight parts/items 67 questions to evaluate the studied children’s knowledge/perception about myths and realities of cancer treatment modalities and their mothers (when necessary).
Scoring system:
The children and mothers answers were evaluated and based on that, level of knowledge/perception was divided into a score of zero to <67 (<50%) indicated poor level of knowledge/perception, a score of 67 to <100 (50<75%) indicated a moderate level of knowledge/perception and a score of 100 to <134 (75≤ 100%) indicated a good level of knowledge/perception.
-Preparatory phase:
The researcher reviewed the local and international related literature and studies covering various aspects of the research problem and to develop the study tool. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were evaluated by experts in the field of the study and using Cronbach’s alpha test for testing reliability.
-Pilot study:
The pilot study was conducted prior to the data collection on 10 child and their mothers (representing nearly 10% of the total sample) to test clarity, the applicability of the tools, estimate the time needed to collect data. Modifications were done according to the pilot results. All participants in the pilot study were excluded later.
-Fieldwork:
The study started from the 1st of January 2019 to the end of June 2019. The children and their accompanying mothers were interviewed individually (8.00 am_ 2.00 pm) through three days/ week while they were in the area of the study.
-Findings of the current study as the following:
- The mean age of the studied children was 13.16±2.26 years and the mean age of the mothers was 34.47±10.21 years. Regarding the studied children’s gender, it was found that more than half (60%) of children were males and the rest of them (40%) were females.
- More than half (56%) of the studied children were living in rural, while the rest of them (44%) were living in urban areas and 39% of the studied children were diagnosed as leukemia.
- It was clear that one quarter (25%) of children were received only chemotherapy while one quarter (25%) and more than one third (38%) of the studied mothers and children were perceived that cancer is not a contagious disease while 71.4% & 52.3% of them stated that, the cause of cancer is unknown.
- More than three fourths (88.6 & 80%) of the studied mothers and children were perceived reality that surgery is one of the treatment modalities for cancer respectively. Regarding chemotherapy, 54.3% & 41.5% of mothers and children were perceived that chemotherapy is an outdated modality and now there are better ways for cancer treatment respectively.
- It was found that about half of mothers (50.7%) and children (51.1%) had an average level of knowledge/perception related to myths and realities of cancer treatment modalities respectively. While on the contrary, about a quarter of mothers (28.5%) and children (25.8%) had a poor level of knowledge/ perception of these myths and realities respectively.
- There was a statistically significant relation (p<0,0001) between the level of knowledge/perception related to myths and realities of cancer treatment modalities of the studied children and their characteristics, as the greater the child’s age and level of education, the greater the child’s knowledge/ perception of cancer treatment modalities.
- There was a statistically significant relation between the total level of knowledge/perception of mothers related to myths and realities cancer treatment modalities and their education (p<0, 0001) and their work (p<0, 02) where it was found that the university graduates had more realities about cancer treatment modalities compared to the least educated. Also, the mothers who learned as nurses or teachers had all the realities about cancer treatment modalities, unlike housewives and farmers.
- Also there was a statistically significant relation between the level of knowledge/perception of the studied children and the home environment (ventilation, water, sewage disposal, floors, and toilet) (p<0, 0001).