Rehabilitation is a key element in improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for pediatric cancer survivors. The aim of this study was to present data from a multidisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation treatment. Children took part in a four-week multidisciplinary family-oriented inpatient rehabilitation. A total of 236 children (>5–21 years) and 478 parents routinely completed electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs), performance-based assessments, and clinician-rated assessments before (T1) and at the end (T2) of rehabilitation. HRQOL was assessed with the PedsQL generic core and PedsQL cancer module. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Statistically significant improvements with medium to large effect sizes were observed for most HRQOL scales (η² = 0.09–0.31), as well as performance-based and clinician-rated assessments for physical activity and functional status (η² > 0.28). Agreement between children’s PROs and parents’ proxy ratings was lower before (r_ICC = 0.72) than after (r_ICC = 0.86) rehabilitation. While the concordance between children and parents’ assessment of changes during rehab was low to moderate (r = 0.19–0.59), the use of the performance score led to substantially increased scores (r = 0.29–0.68). The results of this naturalistic observational study thus highlight the benefits of multidisciplinary pediatric inpatient rehabilitation for childhood cancer survivors. The use of the performance score is recommended in this field.

Until 2018 only adults had access to rehabilitation in Austria, but since then 5 centers for pediatric rehabilitation with different indications have been established with the goal of improving the health of sick children and young adults. The pediatric rehabilitation center "Leuwaldhof", which is located south of Salzburg, is the only pediatric oncologic rehabilitation center in Austria. It offers rehabilitation and recovery for pediatric patients who suffered from malignancies, as well as for their families and siblings, but also for acute or chronic disease in metabolism or digestion. Cancer and its treatment significantly decrease the quality of life (QoL) of pediatric patients and their families. Families often have to split up during the months of chemotherapy if there are siblings in the family and very often it is the mother who stays with the sick child in the hospital. To facilitate recovery for the families in these difficult times, interdisciplinary and family-oriented inpatient rehabilitation has recently been implemented in Austria. To evaluate the improvements during the rehabilitation, the QoL of the patients and families has been routinely assessed since the opening of the center. In a specifically designed 'life app', patients and families complete the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL; generic score and cancer module) before and after rehabilitation on their own electronic devices. Data of 98 patients and 124 parents between June 2018 and December 2019 show significant improvements in QoL. Our goal is to support the children and their families to help them return to normal life. Our results show rehabilitation helps achieve this important goal.