Effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for cognitive dysfunction in cancer patients who have received chemotherapy: a systematic review.

Objective The objective of this systematic review is to assess the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions designed to treat CRCD. The primary outcome assessed will be cognitive function, as measured by a reliable and valid tool. Because CRCD has been strongly linked to Quality of Life (QoL), a secondary outcome to be assessed is whether any of the interventions studied demonstrate improvements in QoL for this patient population. Criteria for considering studies for this review Types of participants This review will include studies with patients aged 18 or over who were diagnosed with cancer and received chemotherapy as part of their treatment. Patients may be of either sex, and have any primary site of cancer. Patients may be receiving chemotherapy at the time of the intervention studied, or (because some people experience CRCD after treatment with chemotherapy has finished), their exposure to chemotherapy may have occurred in the past. The review will exclude studies if their participants are under the age of 18, or have had any diagnosed cognitive dysfunction prior to receiving chemotherapy. Patients younger than 18 can face different medical and psychosocial issues when diagnosed with cancer; as such, they have distinctive medical and psychosocial needs which necessitate age-appropriate therapy. Interventions designed for adults may be inappropriate for this group. Types of interventions This review will consider psychosocial interventions designed to improve cognitive functioning amongst patients who have received, or are receiving, chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer. These interventions may include: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT); Psychological counselling; or Education on compensatory techniques for CRCD. Studies investigating only pharmacological interventions to improve cognitive functioning will be excluded. Studies that investigate both psychological and pharmacological interventions will be assessed for their suitability for inclusion, though only the data dealing with non pharmacological interventions will be reported. Types of outcome measures The primary outcome of interest for this study is the level of cognitive dysfunction, as measured by any reliable and validated scale, including but not limited to the Multiple Ability Self-Report Questionnaire (the MASQ) and neuropsychological tests like the California Verbal Learning Test-II. TRUNCATED AT 350 WORDS.