Assessing objective cognitive impairments in cancer survivors: Features and validity of measures for research and clinical applications.

Objective: This narrative review aims to (1) identify neuropsychological tests for assessing cognitive function impairment in patients with cancer, specifically in the domains of attention and memory, (2) summarize the characteristics of these tests, including cognitive function domains, test content, readability, and psychometric quality, and (3) evaluate the feasibility of each test in cancer care.

Methods: Data sources include published test manuals, documents from official web pages, and published journal articles.

Results: Our study identified eight neuropsychological tests that are most frequently used to assess the attention and memory domains of objective cognitive function in patients with breast cancer.

Neuropsychological Effects of Chemotherapy: Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies on Objective Cognitive Impairment in Breast Cancer Patients.

Background: Findings from longitudinal studies can provide more conclusive evidence as to the impact of chemotherapy on cognitive functioning.

Objectives: This study aimed to ( a ) synthesize the evidence from longitudinal studies of the neuropsychological effects associated with chemotherapy in breast cancer patients, ( b ) identify associated factors, and ( c ) evaluate methodological issues.

Methods: Data were extracted from PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library.

A review of the prevalence and impact of multiple symptoms in oncology patients.

Findings from several studies suggest that oncology patients undergoing active treatment experience multiple symptoms, and that these symptoms can have a negative effect on patient outcomes. However, no systematic review has summarized the findings from studies that assessed multiple symptoms in these patients. Therefore, the purposes of this review were to: 1) compare and contrast the characteristics of the three most commonly used instruments to measure multiple symptoms; 2) summarize the prevalence rates for multiple symptoms in studies of oncology patients receiving active treatment; 3) describe the relationships among selected demographic, disease, and treatment characteristics and multiple symptoms; and 4) describe the relationships between the occurrence of multiple symptoms and patient outcomes (i.