Abstract: Objective: To describe the experiences and burden of children with solid tumors during radiotherapy. Methods: By convenient sampling, a total of 128 children aging 5-18 years old with solid tumors undergoing radiotherapy were recruited from the radiology department of a tertiary hospital in Shanghai from October 2018 to December 2019. The questionnaires including the general information questionnaire and the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS) were used to evaluate the various symptoms of tumor patients during radiotherapy. Results: The incidence of symptoms ranged from 13.3% to 71.9%, of which the top five were nausea, hair loss, lack of energy, vomiting and dry mouth and the top 5 symptom burden were hair loss, nausea, lack of energy, vomiting and no appetite. The average scores of physical symptoms, global distress index and MSAS score in children who did not receive chemotherapy in the past week were significantly less than those of children receiving chemotherapy in the last week (P<0.01). Effects of age, gender, and disease type on the symptom burden in all dimensions showed no statistically significant differences (P>0.05). Conclusion: Children with solid tumors suffer from a variety of adverse symptoms during radiotherapy, especially those who undergo chemotherapy at the same time. Medical staff should focus on giving targeted guidance based on the symptoms and burden of the children during radiotherapy.

Key words: children; adolescents; malignant solid tumors; radiotherapy; multi-symptoms