Chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) among early-stage breast cancer survivors in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Breast cancer survivors frequently develop cognitive impairment following chemotherapy which can significantly hamper their well-being, ability to function independently, and overall quality of life. Evidence of cognitive functioning in breast cancer survivors from lower and middle-income countries remains scarce. We examined the prevalence of cognitive impairment among Malaysian multiethnic early-stage breast cancer survivors one to three years post-chemotherapy.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 160 breast cancer survivors from the University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC). The cognitive assessments used included the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-BM), the Rey Auditory and Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT-BM), and the digit span and arithmetic of the Working Memory Index (WMI) of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV). Data were analyzed using independent sample t-tests and Pearson’s correlation.

Results: Our breast cancer survivors demonstrated poor performances in MoCA-BM (31.9%) RAVLT-BM, recall (53.8%), and WMI of WAIS-IV (51.3%) with 30.6% of them performed poorly in all three cognitive tests administered. There were no significant mean group differences in cognitive performances between <24 months after chemotherapy and ≥24 months after chemotherapy.

Conclusions: A high proportion of breast cancer survivors exhibited poor performances in the cognitive assessments. Cognitive rehabilitation programmes tailored to the needs of these survivors should be incorporated into cancer care management.

KEYWORDS:

• Breast cancer survivors
• cognition
• cognitive impairment
• chemotherapy
• neuropsychological testing

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the participants for consenting to participate in our present study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).