Efficacy and reach of psychosocial interventions for improving cognitive functions in cancer survivors — ASN Events

Efficacy and reach of psychosocial interventions for improving cognitive functions in cancer survivors (#257)

Heather J Green 1 , Mary E Mihuta 1 , Summer King 1
  1. Menzies Health Institute Qld & School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

Aim:  Problems with neurocognitive functioning have been identified as a concern for some survivors of non central nervous system (CNS) malignancies. Studies have shown that psychosocial interventions have been associated with improvement in cognitive functioning in cancer survivors who experience this issue. However, to date, most studies have been conducted in research settings, with limited applicability beyond this setting. This study aimed to (1) provide an overview of published psychosocial intervention studies for neurocognitive problems in adult cancer survivors of non-CNS malignancies and (2) describe translation of a psychosocial intervention used in two previously published studies to online and clinical settings respectively. Methods: Aim 1 was addressed via a literature search. Published research between 1980 and 2014 was searched for relevant intervention studies that met the criteria in Aim 1. Aim 2 was addressed by specifying research protocols for translating the intervention to new settings. Protocols and preliminary results are described for two new studies that adapt and translate the Responding to Cognitive Concerns (ReCog) intervention to an online and clinical setting, respectively. Results: Ten published intervention studies were located, conducted by more than 6 separate research groups. All studies found improvement in objective and/or subjective cognitive function. Of the 8 studies that compared one or more control conditions to the intervention condition, 7 showed a specific benefit of the intervention compared to the control condition. Conclusions: The replications by multiple independent groups increase confidence that such interventions have value. However, more research is needed to understand the mediators and moderators of successful psychosocial interventions for this issue. Protocols for translating one of these research interventions (ReCog) to online and clinical settings demonstrate that it may be feasible to make such interventions more widely available to cancer survivors who could benefit.

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