Cognitive deficits and psychopathological symptoms among children with medulloblastoma

Abstract

Children with medulloblastoma (MB) are predisposed for negative cognitive sequela, which has been widely identified in this population. The purpose of the present study was to explore cognitive deficits and psychopathological symptoms and analyse their relation among MB survivors. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI-KID) was administered to 34 MB survivors to measure cognitive functioning and psychopathological symptoms. The MB survivors had lower global IQ (86.41 [79.70-93.13]) compared with the control population mean. We found impaired functioning in all IQ subscales in the MB survivors group, of which processing speed (84.15 [77.71-90.58]) was the most affected. Higher radiation dose and high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue were significantly associated factors for lowered global IQ, while age at diagnosis, sex and time period from diagnosis were not significantly associated. Compulsive disorder, generalised anxiety, separation anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder were significantly more prevalent in the MB survivor group than a group of 46 control participants. No correlation was found between the cognitive deficits and the psychopathological symptoms. Our results identify that MB survivors suffer from cognitive and psychopathological impairments, and these could exist independently from each other.

Psychological adjustment outcomes among pediatric brain tumor survivors: A meta‐analysis

“…Nine effect sizes, consisting of data from 4865 participants (N BT = 1520, N HC = 3345), were included in this set of analyses. Measures to assess depressive symptoms included the brief symptom inventory (BSI‐18) depression scale, the Beck depression inventory, and the child behavior checklist anxious/depressed scale 11,32,34,38‐43 . A statistically significant overall medium effect size of 0.36 (95% CI = 0.12‐0.60, P = .003) indicated PBTS, relative to a healthy comparison group, experience moderately greater depressive symptomology.…”

“…Longitudinal cohort studies are needed to examine premorbid functioning, and compare differences in the development of psychological difficulties across PBTS and healthy samples. Only one study 32 utilized a structured interview to assess psychological symptoms, resulting in possible misrepresentation of symptomology due to the challenges of utilizing self‐report measures among youth who are at significant risk for executive functioning impairments 3,5 . Heterogeneity was further limited, as only one informant's report could be used from each study due to the assumption of independence in meta‐analysis.…”

“…Measures to assess depressive symptoms included the brief symptom inventory (BSI-18) depression scale, the Beck depression inventory, and the child behavior checklist anxious/depressed scale. 11,32,34,[38][39][40][41][42][43] A statistically significant overall medium effect size of 0.…”

“…Measures to assess anxious symptoms included the BSI-18 anxiety scale, the state-trait anxiety inventory, and the youth self-report anxiety/depression scale. 11,32,34,[40][41][42][43]…”

Circular RNAs in childhood‐related diseases and cancers: A review

“…Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common paediatric malignant brain tumour, accounting for about 10% to 20% of children's central nervous system (CNS) malignant tumours, but only 1% of adult cases 96,97 . Owing to the development of more effective treatments like surgical resection and irradiation, survival rates for MB have gradually improved to more than 60% in recent decades 98,99 . At present, studies on non‐coding RNAs of the MB mainly focus on lncRNAs and miRNAs, 100 while there are only few studies on the role of circRNAs in MB.…”