"Chemobrain" in childhood cancer survivors - the impact on social, academic, and daily living skills: a qualitative systematic review
Date
2023
Authors
Semendric, I.
Pollock, D.
Haller, O.
George, R.
Collins-Praino, L.
Whittaker, A.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Supportive Care in Cancer, 2023; 31(9):532-1-532-15
Statement of Responsibility
Ines Semendric, Danielle Pollock, Olivia J. Haller, Rebecca P. George, Lyndsey E. Collins-Praino, Alexandra L. Whittaker
Conference Name
Abstract
Purpose: To examine children’s experiences of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment––colloquially “chemobrain”–– and the impact on children’s social, academic, and daily living skills via a qualitative systematic review. Experiencing chemotherapy as a child, when the brain is still developing, may cause lifelong detriment to survivors’ lives. There is a significant gap in understanding their lived experience, including the self-identified barriers that children face following treatment. Such a gap can only be fully bridged by listening to the child’s own voice and/or parent proxy report through an exploration of the qualitative research literature. Methods: A search of MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases was conducted. Inclusion criteria were qualitative studies with a focus on children (0–18 years) during and/or following chemotherapy treatment and explored children’s experiences of chemobrain. Results: Two synthesized findings were identified from six studies. (1) Chemobrain has an academic and psychosocial impact, which may not be understood by education providers. (2) Children and their parents have concerns about their reintegration and adaptation to school, social lives, and their future selves as independent members of society. Children’s experiences primarily related to changes in their academic and social functioning. Conclusion: This review highlights two important considerations: (1) the lived experiences of pediatric childhood cancer survivors guiding where future interventions should be targeted, and (2) a need to perform more qualitative research studies in this area, as well as to improve the quality of reporting among the existing literature, given that this is a current gap in the field.
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Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Published online: 22 August 2023
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© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creaiveco mmons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.