Impact of Childhood Leukemia Treatment on Attention Measured by the Continuous Performance Test Factor Structure.

Objectives: To describe the impact of central nervous system-directed treatment on attention and its relation to academic outcomes in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors.

Sample & Setting: 51 children diagnosed with ALL at two pediatric oncology treatment centers in the southwestern United States.

Methods & Variables: A prospective, longitudinal design measured attention after a child was in remission, two years after the start of treatment, and at the end of treatment.

Childhood Cancer Symptom Cluster: Leukemia and Health-Related Quality of Life.

Objectives: To examine the relationship of the Childhood Cancer Symptom Cluster-Leukemia (CCSC-L) with health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

Sample & Setting: 327 children receiving treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia from four pediatric oncology programs across the United States.

Methods & Variables: Participants completed fatigue, sleep disturbance, pain, nausea, and depression symptom questionnaires at four time points; these symptoms comprised the CCSC-L.

Physical Activity, the Childhood Cancer Symptom Cluster-Leukemia, and Cognitive Function: A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis.

Background: Children undergoing leukemia treatment report co-occurring symptoms of fatigue, sleep disturbances, pain, nausea, and depression as a symptom cluster. Physical activity (PA) is essential for development and may influence symptom severity. Children with leukemia are at risk of cognitive impairments from central nervous system therapies.

Influence of Nitrosative Stress on Fatigue During Childhood Leukemia Treatment.

The focus on a cure for childhood leukemia over the last three decades has resulted in survival rates of more than 80%. However, efforts to manage leukemia-treatment symptoms have not kept pace with new therapies. Symptom toxicity during treatment can result in complications, treatment delays, and therapy dose reductions.

Changes in Oxidant Defense, Apoptosis, and Cognitive Abilities During Treatment for Childhood Leukemia.

Aggressive central nervous system (CNS)-directed treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most prevalent cancer among children and adolescents, prevents metastasis of leukemia cells into the brain. Up to 60% of survivors experience cognitive problems, but knowledge about risk factors for and mechanisms of neurologic injury is lacking. Objectives of the present study were to (1) quantify changes in oxidant defense and apoptosis over the course of ALL therapy and (2) elucidate risk factors for long-term cognitive problems.

Declines Noted in Cognitive Processes and Association With Achievement Among Children With Leukemia.

Purpose/objectives: To assess change in specific cognitive processes during treatment with chemotherapy only among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). 
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Design: A prospective, repeated measures design.

Symptom Trajectories in Children Receiving Treatment for Leukemia: A Latent Class Growth Analysis With Multitrajectory Modeling.

Context: Cancer treatment symptoms play a major role in determining the health of children with cancer. Symptom toxicity often results in complications, treatment delays, and therapy dose reductions that can compromise leukemia therapy and jeopardize chances for long-term survival. Critical to understanding symptom experiences during treatment is the need for exploration of "why" inter-individual symptom differences occur; this will determine who may be most susceptible to treatment toxicities.

Multifaceted Prospective Memory Intervention to Improve Medication Adherence.

Objectives: To test whether a multifaceted prospective memory intervention improved adherence to antihypertensive medications and to assess whether executive function and working memory processes moderated the intervention effects.

Design: Two-group longitudinal randomized control trial.

Setting: Community.

Differences in Transitional Care Provided to Mexican American and Non-Hispanic White Older Adults.

Background: Transitional care, assisting patients to move safely through multiple health care settings, may be insufficient for older Hispanic patients.

Purpose: Describe home health care services referral rates for Hispanic and non-Hispanic White (NHW) patients and factors that influence case managers' (CMs') discharge planning processes.

Design: Organized by the Ethno-Cultural Gerontological Nursing Model, health records were reviewed ( n = 33,597 cases) and supplemented with qualitative description ( n = 8 CMs).

Oxidative Stress, Motor Abilities, and Behavioral Adjustment in Children Treated for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Purpose/objectives: To examine associations among oxidative stress, fine and visual-motor abilities, and behavioral adjustment in children receiving chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
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Design: A prospective, repeated-measures design
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Setting: Two pediatric oncology settings in the southwestern United States.

Neurocognitive Predictors of Academic Outcomes Among Childhood Leukemia Survivors.

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common pediatric cancer, and survival approaches 90%. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors are more likely than healthy peers or siblings to experience academic underachievement, yet little is known about neurocognitive predictors of academic outcomes.

Objectives: Objectives were to compare neurocognitive abilities to age-adjusted standardized norms, examine change over time in neurocognitive abilities, and establish neurocognitive predictors of academic outcomes.

The impact of a telenovela intervention on use of home health care services and Mexican American older adult and caregiver outcomes.

A two-group randomized controlled trial tested a telenovela intervention (i.e., a culturally congruent videotaped dramatization with guided dialogue) to increase Mexican American older adults' and family caregivers' awareness of and confidence in home health care services (HHCS), thereby increasing use of HHCS and improving older adult and caregiver outcomes.

Increase in oxidative stress as measured by cerebrospinal fluid lipid peroxidation during treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Five-year survival from childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) approaches 90%, but 40% of survivors experience central nervous system (CNS) treatment-related cognitive problems. Despite considerable evidence for cognitive problems, less is known about mechanisms of neurological injury. Our purpose was to investigate oxidative stress, measured by lipid peroxidation, as a mechanism of CNS treatment-related neurological injury.

Recruitment of Older Adults: Success May Be in the Details.

Purpose: Describe recruitment strategies used in a randomized clinical trial of a behavioral prospective memory intervention to improve medication adherence for older adults taking antihypertensive medication.

Results: Recruitment strategies represent 4 themes: accessing an appropriate population, communication and trust-building, providing comfort and security, and expressing gratitude. Recruitment activities resulted in 276 participants with a mean age of 76.