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Niki Rensen

Former MD/PhD student
Niki Rensen
Niki Rensen

Parental sleep and daily functioning in childhood cancer

This project focuses on sleep, health-related quality of life and psychosocial functioning of parents of children with cancer. We evaluate parents from two different cohorts. First, parents of children diagnosed with all types of cancer between 2010 and 2015 (in Amsterdam) filled out questionnaires in a cross-sectional design. In this group, we explicitly asked both caregivers of a child to participate. Second, parents of children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and participating in the nationwide SLEEP-study also completed questionnaires on their sleep and quality of life (one-parent report). We are following these parents longitudinally, from diagnosis until one year after completion of treatment. As parental and child functioning are closely related, results of this project may inform future interventions to improve quality of life in the whole family dealing with pediatric cancer.

Niki is supervised by Dr. R.R.L. van Litsenburg, Prof. Dr. G.J. Kaspers (Máxima and VUmc) and Prof. Dr. M.A. Grootenhuis.

Publications

  • Rensen N, Steur LMH, Schepers SA et al. Determinants of quality of life proxy rating disagreement between caregivers of children with cancer. Quality of Life Research. 2019
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31820207
  • Rensen N, Steur LMH, Schepers SA et al. Concurrence of sleep problems and distress: prevalence and determinants in parents of children with cancer. European Journal of Psychotraumatology. 2019 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31448065
  • Rensen N, Steur LMH, Schepers SA et al. Gender-specific differences in parental health-related quality of life in childhood cancer. Pediatric Blood and Cancer. 2019 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30916456
  • Rensen N, Gemke RJBJ, van Dalen EC, Rotteveel J, Kaspers GJL. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis suppression after treatment with glucocorticoid therapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2017 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29106702
  • Gordijn MS, Rensen N*, Gemke RJBJ, van Dalen EC, Rotteveel J, Kaspers GJL. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis suppression after treatment with glucocorticoid therapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2015
    *joined first authorship https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26282194

Thesis
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