Preliminary comparison of neuropsychological performance in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer treated with chemotherapy or targeted therapy

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of demographic variables

Years	Non-treatment n=40 Mean (SD)	Chemotherapy n=40 Mean (SD)	Targeted therapy n=33 Mean (SD)	F	P-value
Age	59.05 (6.17)	58.10 (8.64)	57.82 (8.20)	0.26	0.77
Education	10.00 (3.37)	9.68 (3.19)	10.09 (3.66)	0.16	0.86
Disease duration	0.60 (1.72)	1.85 (1.21)a	1.15 (1.15)b	11.28***	0.00

Notes:

a Chemotherapy group> non-treatment group and targeted therapy group;

b Targeted therapy group> non-treatment group;

*** P<0.001.

Table 2 Neuropsychological performance in patients with different types of cancer treatment

	Non-treatment n=40 Mean (SD)	Chemotherapy n=40 Mean (SD)	Targeted therapy n=33 Mean (SD)
MMSE	28.35 (1.75)	28.28 (2.26)	28.03 (2.05)
Vocabulary	10.03 (1.40)	9.55 (1.96)	10.33 (2.43)
Digit Span	10.23 (2.66)	9.40 (2.27)	10.03 (3.20)
DSS	8.78 (2.86)	8.70 (2.72)	9.30 (3.18)
CTT1
Completion time	70.90 (26.75)	68.15 (18.90)	69.92 (22.30)
Errors	0.05 (0.22)	0.07 (0.35)	0.03 (0.17)
CTT2
Completion time	130.12 (40.70)	125.16 (20.68)	129.06 (40.39)
Number errors	0.02 (0.16)	0.05 (0.24)	0.06 (0.24)
Color errors	0.25 (0.68)	0.32 (0.59)	0.24 (0.76)
HADS total	8.70 (8.13)	7.85 (8.57)	7.06 (7.64)
Anxiety	4.75 (4.62)	3.45 (4.84)	3.18 (3.88)
Depression	3.95 (3.99)	4.40 (4.31)	3.88 (4.33)

Abbreviations: CTT, Color Trails Test; DSS, Digit Symbol Substitution; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination.

Table 3 Comparison of the three groups for various measures according to either mean score or proportion of patients with abnormal test performance

	Non-treatment n (%) Mean (SD)*	Chemotherapy n (%) Mean (SD)*	Targeted therapy n (%) Mean (SD)*	χ^2 or F	P-value
MMSE	0	2 (1.8)	2 (1.8)	2.332	0.312
Vocabulary	0	0	0	Nil	Nil
DSS	6 (15)	4 (10)	5 (15.2)	0.577	0.749
Digit Span	0	2 (5)	1 (3)	1.960	0.375
CTT1
Completion time	5 (12.5)	2 (5)	4 (12.12)	1.582	0.453
Errors	2 (5)	2 (5)	1 (3.03)	0.214	0.898
CTT2
Completion time	2 (5.4)	1 (2.5)	3 (9.09)	1.523	0.467
Number errors	1 (2.5)	3 (7.5)	2 (6.06)	1.047	0.593
Color errors	3 (7.5)	3 (7.5)	2 (6.06)	0.074	0.964
Overall performance	14 (35)	14 (35)	10 (30)	0.235	0.889
HADS-A	8 (20)	6 (15)	6 (18)	0.351	0.839
HADS-D	8 (20)	6 (15)	5 (15)	0.450	0.799
FACT-cog
Total score	118.88 (9.75)	113.90 (14.07)	113.94 (16.25)	1.757	0.177
PCI	66.80 (6.41)	64.28 (8.84)	64.27 (8.57)	1.296	0.278
CFO	15.63 (1.00)	15.43 (1.68)	15.64 (1.58)	0.262	0.770
PCA	21.13 (3.41)	19.33 (3.68)	19.91 (4.90)	2.108	0.126
QOL	15.33 (1.86)	14.88 (2.54)	14.12 (3.90)	1.666	0.194

Note:

* the results of the FACT-cog are presented in Mean (SD).

Abbreviations: CFO, comments from others; CTT, Color Trails Test; DSS, Digit Symbol Substitution; FACT-cog, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Cognitive Function; HADS-A, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale–Anxiety; HADS-D, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale–Depression; PCA, perceived cognitive abilities; PCI, perceived cognitive impairments; QOL, quality of life; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination.

Table 4 Pearson correlations between various study instruments

Test/group	Disease duration	MMSE	Vocabulary	DSS	Digit Span	CTT1-CT	CTT1-error	CTT2-CT	CTT2 Number error	CTT2 Color error	FACT-cog Total score	HADS-A	HADS-D
Disease duration
I	1
II	1
III	1
MMSE
I	0.208	1
II	0.044	1
III	−0.081	1
Vocabulary
I	−0.056	0.122	1
II	−0.137	0.364*	1
III	0.406*	0.342	1
DSS
I	0.087	0.165	0.212	1
II	0.212	0.143	0.392*	1
III	0.056	0.559**	0.536**	1
Digit Span
I	0.03	0.335*	0.238	0.269	1
II	0.311	0.451**	0.502**	0.439**	1
III	0.305	0.443**	0.449**	0.525**	1
CTT1-CT
I	−0.031	0.249	−0.152	−0.271	0.212	1
II	0.025	−0.15	−0.099	0.07	−0.06	1
III	0.044	0.18	0.372*	0.074	0.056	1
CTT1-error
I	−0.20	−0.246	−0.087	−0.144	0.024	0.100	1
II	−0.094	−0.124	−0.024	−0.084	0.026	0.093	1
III	−0.180	0.172	−0.025	0.096	−0.170	−0.195	1
CTT2-CT
I	−0.172	0.096	−0.204	−0.228	0.032	0.692***	0.015	1
II	−0.172	−0.265	0.115	−0.039	−0.178	0.513**	−0.026	1
III	0.009	−0.109	0.027	−0.088	−0.257	0.662***	−0.274	1
CTT2-Color error
I	0.196	0.033	−0.007	0.137	0.111	−0.155	−0.087	−0.082	1
II	−0.251	−0.061	0.149	0.161	−0.145	−0.317	−0.018	−0.092	1
III	0.029	0.015	0.211	−0.045	−0.172	0.200	−0.058	0.362*	1
CTT2-Number error
I	−0.083	−0.404**	−0.118	−0.214	−0.135	−0.009	0.698**	0.039	−0.061	1
II	0.274	−0.077	0.017	0.032	0.076	−0.476**	−0.062	0.019	0.095	1
III	0.078	−0.192	−0.300	−0.187	−0.285	−0.205	−0.045	0.345*	0.432*	1
FACT-cog Total score
I	0.254	0.064	0.055	−0.255	−0.214	−0.255	−0.092	−0.373*	0.217	−0.048	1
II	0.254	−0.059	−0.152	−0.146	−0.081	−0.057	0.038	0.271	−0.361*	0.139	1
III	0.031	−0.023	−0.071	−0.081	−0.014	0.073	0.199	0.067	−0.055	−0.023	1
HADS-A
I	−0.232	−0.046	0.27	0.081	0.319*	0.095	−0.189	0.022	−0.178	−0.167	−0.329*	1
II	−0.312*	−0.131	0.014	−0.091	−0.087	−0.056	−0.081	−0.174	0.352*	−0.126	−0.648***	1
III	0.057	0.199	0.202	0.11	0.234	−0.123	−0.101	−0.234	−0.123	−0.212	−0.205	1
HADS-D
I	−0.196	0.128	0.316*	0.026	0.315*	0.236	−0.114	0.068	−0.264	−0.120	−0.324*	0.783***	1
II	−0.278	−0.269	−0.057	−0.363*	−0.137	−0.139	−0.003	−0.125	0.158	−0.049	−0.345*	0.755***	1
III	−0.021	0.352*	0.191	0.298	0.188	−0.080	−0.161	−0.182	−0.164	−0.142	−0.399*	0.735***	1

Notes: I, Untreated group; II, chemotherapy group; III, targeted therapy group;

* P<0.05;

** P<0.01;

*** P<0.001.

Abbreviations: CT, completion time; CTT, Color Trails Test; DSS, Digit Symbol Substitution; FACT-cog, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy−Cognitive Function; HADS-A, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale−Anxiety; HADS-D, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale−Depression; MMSE, Mini−Mental State Examination.