TY - JOUR
T1 - Tumor region associated with specific processing speed outcomes
AU - Peterson, Rachel K.
AU - Ng, Rowena
AU - Ludwig, Natasha N.
AU - Jacobson, Lisa A.
N1 - Funding Information:
There is no funding to be disclosed for this study. The authors extend their thanks to the families, the neuropsychology department at Kennedy Krieger Institute and the medical team at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Objective: Processing speed (PS) is a vulnerable cognitive skill in pediatric cancer survivors as a consequence of treatments and, less consistently, tumor region. Studies conventionally examine graphomotor PS; emerging research suggests other aspects of PS may be impacted. This study examined types of PS in pediatric brain tumor survivors to determine which aspects are impaired. Given discordance across studies, we additionally investigated the relationship between brain region and PS. Methods: The sample consisted of 167 pediatric brain tumor patients (100 supratentorial). PS (oral naming, semantic fluency, phonemic fluency, motor speed, graphomotor speed, visual scanning) was gathered via clinical neuropsychological assessment. To examine PS by region, infratentorial and supratentorial groups were matched on age at diagnosis and neuropsychological assessment, and time since diagnosis. Results: The whole sample performed below normative means on measures of oral naming (p <.001), phonemic fluency (p <.001), motor speed (p =.03), visual scanning (p <.001), and graphomotor speed (p <.001). Only oral naming differed by region (p =.03), with infratentorial tumors associated with slower performance. After controlling for known medical and demographic risk factors, brain region remained a significant predictor of performance (p =.04). Among the whole sample, greater than expected proportions of patients with impairment (i.e., >1 standard deviation below the normative mean) were seen across all PS measures. Infratentorial tumors had higher rates of impairments across all PS measures except phonemic fluency. Conclusions: Results indicate pediatric brain tumor survivors demonstrate weaknesses in multiple aspects of PS, suggesting impairments are not secondary to peripheral motor slowing alone. Additionally, tumor region may predict some but not all neuropsychological outcomes in this population.
AB - Objective: Processing speed (PS) is a vulnerable cognitive skill in pediatric cancer survivors as a consequence of treatments and, less consistently, tumor region. Studies conventionally examine graphomotor PS; emerging research suggests other aspects of PS may be impacted. This study examined types of PS in pediatric brain tumor survivors to determine which aspects are impaired. Given discordance across studies, we additionally investigated the relationship between brain region and PS. Methods: The sample consisted of 167 pediatric brain tumor patients (100 supratentorial). PS (oral naming, semantic fluency, phonemic fluency, motor speed, graphomotor speed, visual scanning) was gathered via clinical neuropsychological assessment. To examine PS by region, infratentorial and supratentorial groups were matched on age at diagnosis and neuropsychological assessment, and time since diagnosis. Results: The whole sample performed below normative means on measures of oral naming (p <.001), phonemic fluency (p <.001), motor speed (p =.03), visual scanning (p <.001), and graphomotor speed (p <.001). Only oral naming differed by region (p =.03), with infratentorial tumors associated with slower performance. After controlling for known medical and demographic risk factors, brain region remained a significant predictor of performance (p =.04). Among the whole sample, greater than expected proportions of patients with impairment (i.e., >1 standard deviation below the normative mean) were seen across all PS measures. Infratentorial tumors had higher rates of impairments across all PS measures except phonemic fluency. Conclusions: Results indicate pediatric brain tumor survivors demonstrate weaknesses in multiple aspects of PS, suggesting impairments are not secondary to peripheral motor slowing alone. Additionally, tumor region may predict some but not all neuropsychological outcomes in this population.
KW - cancer
KW - cerebellum
KW - infratentorial
KW - oncology
KW - pediatric
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U2 - 10.1002/pbc.30167
DO - 10.1002/pbc.30167
M3 - Article
C2 - 36625401
AN - SCOPUS:85146165671
SN - 1545-5009
VL - 70
JO - Pediatric Blood and Cancer
JF - Pediatric Blood and Cancer
IS - 3
M1 - e30167
ER -