A survey of public transport use by immunocompromised children in the United Kingdom.

BACKGROUND: The advice given to immunocompromised children and their families on the use of public transport at our oncology unit has been inconsistent, with a lack of written or evidence based guidelines. We therefore carried out two surveys, one national and one local on this issue, to determine what advice is given to families. We also undertook an extensive literature search on this subject.

METHODS: The first survey was completed by the Paediatric Oncology Nurses Forum link member at each of the 22 United Kingdom Childrens' Cancer Study Group (UKCCSG) centres. We asked their current practice for use of public transport for hospital visits, school attendance, regular weekly use and holidays. We looked at recommendations for travel on holiday in the UK and abroad with reference to neutrophil and platelet counts. The second survey was completed by parents of 64 children attending our outpatient clinic over a 2-week period to ascertain whether the families comply with our verbal recommendations.

RESULTS: There was a 100% response from UKCCSG centres. None of the centres had any written or evidence based guidelines. 55% of centres allowed public transport for hospital visits, 82% for school and 90% for holidays. Sixty-eight percent of centres allowed UK travel with a neutrophil count of 0.5-1 x 109/L and 18% if neutrophils <0.5 x 109/L. Eighteen percent of centres allowed foreign travel with a neutrophil count of 0.5-1 x 109/L but only 9% if <0.5 x 109/L. The second survey showed 2% used public transport to attend hospital, 5% for school, 17% for regular use and 50% travelled by plane for holidays. A Pubmed literature search revealed a lack of studies on immunocompromised patients.

CONCLUSION: A certain use of public transport is necessary for patients to engage in as normal a life as possible. There is a need for further studies to produce sensible and consistent advice on this issue.