'Chemo Brain' Is a Big Problem, According to Breast Cancer Patients
Results of the study
Janelsins and her team analyzed the data from the questionnaires and discovered that 45.2% of the breast cancer patients saw a decline in FACT-Cog scores at some point during chemotherapy. This was determined using surveys completed before and after treatment was received. This is compared to 10.4% of the healthy group of women, who took the survey at the same times, but did not receive chemotherapy.
The team also discovered that from the end of chemotherapy treatments to approximately 6 months after, 18.4% of breast cancer patients had FACT-Cog scores indicating that there was a “clinically meaningful perceived decline” in mental functioning, compared to 11% of women in the healthy control group. The statistic suggests that chemo brain is, in fact, something to be taken into consideration when receiving chemotherapy.
All in all, the research spanned a period of approximately one year, from before chemotherapy was received, to the 6 months following completion of treatment. 36.5% of breast cancer patients had higher FACT-Cog scores (a decline in cognitive ability) compared to 13.6% of women who did not receive cancer treatment.
