Institute of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
Support Care Cancer. 2013 Mar;21(3):857-62. doi: 10.1007/s00520-012-1595-4. Epub 2012 Sep 21.
The number of elderly cancer patients has been rising in recent years, and decreases in cognitive function are reportedly seen in 25-50% of these patients. However, no validated and practical tests are available for the assessment of cognitive function in cancer patients. Age and the effects of cancer treatment have been pointed out as possible causes of these decreases in cognitive function; in both instances, a strong possibility of a decrease in frontal lobe function exists.
We administered the Frontal Assessment Battery at bedside (FAB), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Barthel Index, and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) to 54 cancer patients who were 65 years of age or older and assessed the clinical usefulness of the FAB.
The results showed that the FAB scores were significantly correlated with the MMSE and IADL scores and were unaffected by the number of years of education. Moreover, when the subjects were divided into two groups according to whether their total FAB score was less than 16 points or 16 points or more, significant differences in the total MMSE scores and the total IADL scores were observed.
Based on these findings and because the FAB sensitively detected decreases in cognitive function, accurately reflected the status of everyday life, and could be performed conveniently and in a short time, we concluded that the FAB may be very useful clinically as a means of evaluating the cognitive function of elderly cancer patients.
近年来，老年癌症患者的数量不断增加，据报道，这些患者中有 25-50%的认知功能下降。然而，目前尚无经过验证且实用的测试方法可用于评估癌症患者的认知功能。年龄和癌症治疗的影响被认为是导致认知功能下降的可能原因；在这两种情况下，都存在额叶功能下降的可能性。
我们对 54 名 65 岁及以上的癌症患者进行了床边额叶评估量表（FAB）、简易精神状态检查（MMSE）、巴氏指数和日常生活活动工具（IADL）的评估，并评估了 FAB 的临床实用性。
结果表明，FAB 评分与 MMSE 和 IADL 评分显著相关，不受受教育年限的影响。此外，当根据总 FAB 评分是否小于 16 分或等于或大于 16 分将受试者分为两组时，总 MMSE 评分和总 IADL 评分存在显著差异。
基于这些发现，并且由于 FAB 能够灵敏地检测认知功能下降，准确反映日常生活状况，并且可以方便且在短时间内进行，我们得出结论，FAB 可能在临床上非常有用，可作为评估老年癌症患者认知功能的一种手段。
