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Effects of compensatory cognitive training intervention for breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: a pilot study

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Abstract

Purpose

Numerous breast cancer patients experience cognitive changes during and after chemotherapy. Chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment can significantly affect quality of life. This pilot study attempted to determine the effects of a compensatory cognitive training on the objective and subjective cognitive functioning of breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods

Fifty-four patients were assigned to either a compensatory cognitive training or waitlist condition. They were assessed at baseline (T1), the completion of the 12-week intervention (T2), and 6 months after intervention completion (T3). Outcomes were assessed using the standardized neuropsychological tests and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive Function (FACT-Cog), version 3. Raw data were converted to T-scores based on baseline scores, and a repeated-measures ANCOVA, adjusting for age, intelligence, depression, and treatment, was used for analysis. The effect sizes for differences in means were calculated.

Results

The intervention group improved significantly over time compared to the waitlist group on objective cognitive function. Among ten individual neuropsychological measures, immediate memory, delayed memory, verbal fluency in category, and verbal fluency in letter showed significant group × time interaction. In subjective cognitive function, scores of the waitlist group significantly decrease over time on perceived cognitive impairments, in contrast to those of the intervention group.

Conclusion

The 12-week compensatory cognitive training significantly improved the objective and subjective cognitive functioning of breast cancer patients. Because this was a pilot study, further research using a larger sample and longer follow-up durations is necessary.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (KRF) funded by the Korea government (MEST) (2011-0012145). We would like to thank the study participants for their time and dedication to this study, as well as the staff at the Breast Cancer Center, Ajou University Medical Center, Suwon, South Korea, for their cooperation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Nursing ·Institute of Nursing Science, Ajou University, 164, World cup-Ro, Yeongtong-Gu, Suwon, 16499, South Korea

    Jin-Hee Park & Sun Hyoung Bae

  2. School of Medicine, Ajou University, 164, World cup-Ro, Yeongtong-Gu, Suwon, 16499, South Korea

    Yong Sik Jung

  3. Department of Surgery, Breast-Thyroid Center, Ulsan City Hospital, 1007, Saneop-ro, Buk-gu, Ulsan, 44238, South Korea

    Ku Sang Kim

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  1. Jin-Hee Park
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Correspondence to Sun Hyoung Bae.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures involving human participants were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee, with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments, or as befitting comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants before their involvement in this study.

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Park, JH., Jung, Y.S., Kim, K.S. et al. Effects of compensatory cognitive training intervention for breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: a pilot study. Support Care Cancer 25, 1887–1896 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-3589-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-3589-8

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