e20624 Background: Cancer diagnosis and treatment of a parent has considerable impact on the lives of their children. The aim is to identify whether the diagnosis of parental cancer is associated with an increased risk of psychosocial difficulties amongst children and adolescents in Moroccan population. Methods: At the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat, from September to December 2009, 194 Children and adolescents whose parents were diagnosed with a cancer were interviewed. We used a questionnaire covering socio-epidemiological characteristics exploring the disease repercussions to their psychic. Results: There were 52% son and 48% daughters, aged between 10-15 years old (yo) in 26%, 15 - 20 yo in 44% and 20-22 yo in 30% of cases respectively. 67% were studying. Communication difficulties between parents with cancer and their children were observed in 100%. 20% of children were not aware of their parents' cancer. Only the children who were informed about their parents’ cancer were interviewed. All of them had traumatism, initial denial and anguish of loss of the parent. Guilt feelings were present in 90% of cases. 87% of them felt abandoned. The fear of having a stepfather or stepmother was observed in 41.2% of daughters and 12.8% of son, especially when the parent who had the cancer was the mother. Fear of inheriting cancer was seen in 80% of daughters whose mothers were suffering from breast cancer. The process of parentification was benign in 54% and destructive in 23% of cases. Enuresis was present in 30% of cases (20.6% in daughters 9.4% in son). Introversion was seen in 70% of cases. 30% of children noted a regression in their school abilities. Toxic habits appeared in 15% of cases. Conclusions: The result of this transversal study suggests that Moroccan children who have parents suffering from cancer, experiment an important distress. Unfortunately, the Moroccan parents do not use the services of psychological assistance. Thus, we should be vigilant to detect any potential psycho-pathologic disorders and to enable the family to live as normal as possible.
