The influence of priming and pre‐existing knowledge of chemotherapy‐associated cognitive complaints on the reporting of such complaints in breast cancer patients

Abstract

Our study shows that facilitating the accessibility of concepts related to chemotherapy-associated cognitive complaints directly increases the reporting of such complaints, in particular in patients without firsthand chemotherapy experience. This increase in prevalence of cognitive complaints following a chronically or temporarily accessible 'chemo-brain' schema has relevant implications for clinical practice and for scientific research in this area.

Self-reported cognitive problems in testicular cancer patients: Relation to neuropsychological performance, fatigue, and psychological distress

“…In a study of breast cancer patients, Schagen et al [37] observed that patients who had preexisting knowledge about a possible risk of reduced CF after chemotherapy reported significantly more cognitive problems compared with patients who did not have such preexisting knowledge.…”

Stress, Coping and Cognitive Deficits in Women After Surgery for Breast Cancer

“…Others have conducted research providing evidence that other psychological mechanisms may influence the experience of cognitive difficulties in breast cancer patients (e.g. priming of a 'chemobrain' schema has been associated with increased cognitive complaints (Schagen, Das, & van Dam, 2009)). Data presented herein offers the first examination of the extent to which the psychological mechanisms of stress and coping may affect neuropsychological test performance in breast cancer patients.…”

Minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the functional assessment of cancer therapy: Cognitive function (FACT-Cog) in breast cancer patients

“…Furthermore, there was only modest correlation between the change scores of the FACT-Cog and the EORTC-CF (r 5 0.43). Patients' self-evaluation of cognition may also have been guided by their preexisting knowledge of chemotherapy-associated cognitive changes [49], resulting in an overestimation of the cognitive deterioration they actually experienced. Although objective neuropsychological instruments may provide readily interpretable scores, strong evidence points to the lack of a correlation between subjective and objective cognitive dysfunction [9,50,51], and this precludes objective measures as useful anchors for considering the possibility of underestimating the MCID.…”