A new frontier of pediatric oncology rehabilitation: Establishment of a dedicated working-group within the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology

Purpose: In Italy, most children and adolescents affected by oncological diseases are treated in one of the centers within the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (AIEOP). AIEOP relies on groups of experts; each of them develops interventions in their specific field of expertise to improve the diagnostic, therapeutic, and assistance pathway of patients and families. Although rehabilitation is an important field in pediatric oncology, until recently there was no working group dedicated to it. This study intends to show the steps that led to the creation of the rehabilitation working group in AIEOP. Methods: First of all, a survey to identify the various rehabilitation approaches applied throughout Italian centers was sent via email to 39 AIEOP centers that provide rehabilitation. Results: Answers received from 31 centers showed a lack of homogeneity in rehabilitation methods in terms of type of treatment, number of patients, and outcome measurement. Conclusions: Some results of the survey were chosen as basic criteria of clinical best practice on which to build the first rehabilitation working-group at the national level to be proposed to the AIEOP commission.