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Perceived Executive Functioning Deficits After Diagnosis in Women with Non-Metastatic Breast Cancer Prior to Adjuvant Therapies

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Abstract

Background

Perceived deficits in executive functioning are among the many difficulties that women diagnosed with breast cancer experience. This study assessed the presence of perceived deficits in executive functioning among women with breast cancer prior to systemic treatment and radiation and associations between perceived deficits in executive function and comorbid fatigue, sleep, and mood disturbance.

Method

Participants were recruited following their breast cancer diagnosis and assessed using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function for Adults (BRIEF-A), subjective and objective measures of sleep duration and efficiency, and self-report measures of insomnia severity, sleep quality, fatigue, and mood disturbance. Hierarchical regression was used to examine associations between symptoms, adjusting for age and education.

Results

The final sample included 92 women with a mean age of 60.7 years and 13.5 years of education. Thirteen percent of participants reported global executive dysfunction. After partitioning out variability from other independent variables, fatigue (p = < .001), perceived sleep quality (p = .030), and symptoms of insomnia (p = .008) accounted for 13.3%, 5.7%, and 8.5% of unique variance in perceived executive functioning, respectively. Emotional fatigue was most strongly associated with perceived deficits in executive functioning. Neither subjective or objective sleep duration or efficiency was associated with perceived deficits in executive functioning.

Conclusion

Fatigue, particularly emotional fatigue, insomnia, and poor sleep quality had the strongest associations with perceived deficits in executive functioning. Sleep interventions and fatigue management strategies may prove useful for women who seek to improve their perceived executive functioning.

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Funding

Dr. Rodriguez received studentship funding from the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC) for the 2019 year. ARCC receives core funding from the Canadian Cancer Society (Grant #2015- 703549). Dr. Garland was supported by a New Investigator Award from the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute (BHCRI). The research was also supported by seed funding from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, A1B 3X9, Canada

    Sheila N. Garland, Joshua Tulk, Nicole Rodriguez, Joshua A. Rash & Jonathan M. Fawcett

  2. Discipline of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University , St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

    Sheila N. Garland, Joy McCarthy, Melanie Seal & Kara Laing

  3. Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Sheila N. Garland

Authors
  1. Sheila N. Garland
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  2. Joshua Tulk
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  3. Nicole Rodriguez
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  5. Jonathan M. Fawcett
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Correspondence to Sheila N. Garland.

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Garland, S.N., Tulk, J., Rodriguez, N. et al. Perceived Executive Functioning Deficits After Diagnosis in Women with Non-Metastatic Breast Cancer Prior to Adjuvant Therapies. Int.J. Behav. Med. 31, 31–40 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-023-10153-6

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