Child-related characteristics predicting subsequent health-related quality of life in 8- to 14-year-old children with and without cerebellar tumors: a prospective longitudinal study

Abstract

Background. We identified child-related determinants of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children aged 8 -14 years who were treated for 2 common types of pediatric brain tumors.

Executive dysfunction is associated with poorer health-related quality of life in pediatric brain tumor survivors

“…In children with pilocytic astrocytoma, receiving radiation therapy and requiring special education services were associated with lower HRQoL (Aarsen, Paquier, Arts, et al, 2009). In children with cerebellar tumors who underwent surgical resection and craniospinal irradiation, HRQoL scores were below those of healthy peers and lower scores were associated with self-reported cognitive and emotional complaints (Bull, Liossi, Culliford, et al, 2014). Despite these findings, little work has been done to identify specific cognitive complaints that might affect HRQoL or be associated with response patterns on self-report measures of HRQoL.…”

Patient-reported health status during pediatric cancer treatment

“…PRO use in children with cancer broadly demonstrated the impact of the cancer experience on physical, emotional, and social health . Cross‐sectional studies established that children with cancer experience worse physical health due to symptoms such as fatigue and limitations in physical activity, and that emotional distress is common .…”

Quality of survival and cognitive performance in children treated for medulloblastoma in the PNET 4 randomized controlled trial

“…It is worth noting that in a recent study 49 , HRQoL tended to increase with time in children treated for medulloblastoma, in contrast with the well-known decrease of IQ over time in the same population 61,62 .…”

“…Other studies have reported a significant association between questionnaire scores and direct assessments 48 or proposed the use of QoS questionnaires as screening tools for the presence of neuropsychological deficit 29,49 . However, this was based on observations in a mixed sample of children (malignant and benign brain tumors 48 , brain tumors and healthy controls 29,49,50 ) which may have increased the estimates of sensitivity and specificity of questionnaires compared to that which applies to a population of medulloblastoma survivors.…”

“…Other studies have reported a significant association between questionnaire scores and direct assessments 48 or proposed the use of QoS questionnaires as screening tools for the presence of neuropsychological deficit 29,49 . However, this was based on observations in a mixed sample of children (malignant and benign brain tumors 48 , brain tumors and healthy controls 29,49,50 ) which may have increased the estimates of sensitivity and specificity of questionnaires compared to that which applies to a population of medulloblastoma survivors. Several reports have underlined the absence of significant intercorrelations 8,9,21,51 between direct assessments and questionnaire scores and it seems that patients whose direct assessments suggest cognitive compromise do not necessarily present behavioral or cognitive difficulties on questionnaires by self-or proxy-report.…”