Children’s characteristics (n=44)
| Gender | |
| Male | 20 (45.5%) |
| Status | |
| Living | 17 (38.6%) |
| Deceased | 27 (61.4%) |
| Age* | |
| 1–3 | 15 (34.0%) |
| 4–6 | 8 (18.2%) |
| 7–9 | 9 (20.5%) |
| 10–12 | 12 (27.3%) |
| Diagnosis | |
| Malignancies | 18 (40.9%) |
| Congenital malformations | 17 (38.6%) |
| Cardiovascular | 4 (9.1%) |
| CNS | 3 (6.8%) |
| Other | 1 (2.2%) |
| Undiagnosed | 1 (2.2%) |
| Physical abilities† | |
| Unimpaired or mildly impaired | 9 |
| Moderately impaired | 15 |
| Severely impaired | 20 |
| Cognitive abilities† | |
| Unimpaired or mildly impaired | 18 |
| Moderately impaired | 7 |
| Severely impaired | 19 |
| Chance of dying‡ | |
| Low chance of dying | 10 |
| Significant chance of dying | 23 |
| Terminal prognosis | 11 |
*For deceased children, the age at death.
†Based on the interviews, we estimated average abilities from the moment of the diagnosis until the moment of the interview, or until the start of the terminal phase.
‡Based on the interviews, we estimated the chance of dying at the moment the bad news was delivered. Where several conversations were involved, we averaged the known prognosis.
CNS, central nervous system.