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Systematic studies on the specific symptom experience in children with advanced cancer are limited.The objective of the study was to examine the common symptoms and to explore commonly occurring symptoms over time.A prospective and longitudinal study design was used. Data were collected at 10 data points from 60 children over a 5-month period. Children ranged from 6 to 17 years old, spoke English or Spanish, were diagnosed with advanced cancer, and were receiving healthcare in 1 of 4 Southern California hospitals. Nurses' documentations of symptoms were examined.The study sample was composed of children 6 to 12 years old (52%) and 13 to 17 years old (48%); 42% were female, and 58% were male. Fifty-five percent were Latino, and 30% were Caucasian. Pain, nausea, drowsiness, and energy loss were reported by children in more than 50% of the interviews. Children's and nurses' reports of symptoms were similar except children reported significantly more frequency and intensity of pain.Children with advanced cancer were able to report and describe their symptoms. There were few differences by gender, age, and ethnicity.It is important that children's symptoms are clearly communicated to nurses, and these study findings may be used to anticipate and manage the symptoms experienced by children with advanced cancer.

To develop a non-condition-specific scale to capture biases, emotions, and expectations generated by medical condition descriptors.An 18-item pilot scale was developed from the literature on physicians' responses to patients they like and dislike, stigma definitions, and discussions with primary care faculty. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted after 440 medical students rated one of 12 diverse conditions. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed after 163 medical students rated two psychiatric conditions. Validity was evaluated by the scale's ability to meaningfully stratify the 12 conditions and identify changes in attitudes toward psychiatric conditions after a psychiatry clerkship.Exploratory factor analysis supported an 11-item unidimensional solution (all factor loadings.40, coefficient alpha =.87). The final scale, the Medical Condition Regard Scale (MCRS), taps the degree to which medical students find patients with a given medical condition to be enjoyable, treatable, and worthy of medical resources. The unidimensional model also was supported by the confirmatory factor analyses for the two psychiatric conditions (both comparative fit indices =.98). The scale stratified the 12 conditions as expected: straightforward medical conditions rated highest, somatoform conditions rated lowest. Students showed greater regard for patients with major depression after the psychiatry clerkship, and students who rotated through an addiction treatment program showed a greater increase in regard for patients with alcoholism than did students not exposed to addiction treatment.MCRS scores are reliable, and the scale appears to be a valid instrument for assessing regard for any medical condition.