Supervisors info:
Ευάγγελος Δούσης, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Νοσηλευτικής, ΠΑΔΑ
Μοσχόβη Μαρία, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Κουτελέκος Ιωάννης, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Νοσηλευτικής, ΠΑΔΑ
Summary:
Introduction: One of the most common long-term and delayed effects that survivors of childhood leukemia may experience is learning effects (cognitive effects).
Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review is to investigate interventions to address the cognitive problems of childhood leukemia survivors.
Method: A systematic review of the literature was conducted from 20-03-2020 to 30-06-2020, with a search for articles using keywords: «leukemia, leukaemia, cognitive, neurocognitive, deficits, learning, problems, attention, memory, executive dysfunction, survivors» in international bibliographic databases (Medline, PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library). Criteria for inclusion of an article in the study were: 1. To be written in English, 2. To be completely relevant to the subject of the study, 3. The sample to be related to childhood leukemia survivors, 4. To be published by 2001-2020, 5. To be published in a valid scientific journal, 6. The article to be related to a clinical or descriptive study.
Results: Out of a total of 726 search results found, 14 articles were included in the review. Seven studies concerned the treatment of cognitive problems with medication (methylphenidate - MPH or growth hormone) and the other studies with non-pharmaceutical interventions. MPH appears to have a positive effect and significantly improves cognitive deficits in childhood leukemia survivors, in contrast to growth hormone, where it does not appear to have a positive effect. On the other hand, education and / or support and / or counseling have been shown in some studies to have a positive effect on the improvement of cognitive problems, while in others there have been modest results.
Conclusions: Improving the cognitive problems of children with childhood leukemia can be achieved with MPH and non-pharmacological interventions such as education, support and counseling.
Keywords:
Leukemia, Cognitive, Neurocognitive, Deficits, Learning problems, attention, memory, executive dysfunction, survivors
