Yang Yesol, Gorka Stephanie M, Pennell Michael L, Weinhold Kellie, Orchard Tonya
Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-James, 406 W 10th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 370 W 9th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Cancers (Basel). 2023 Jun 8;15(12):3105. doi: 10.3390/cancers15123105.
Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is one of the most prevalent symptoms that breast cancer survivors experience. While cancer treatments are established contributors to CRCI, inter-individual differences in CRCI are not well understood. Individual differences in sensitivity to uncertainty are potential contributors to CRCI; however, no prior studies have attempted to examine this link in the context of breast cancer. To address the gap, we used preliminary findings from an ongoing cross-sectional study. A total of 38 women with stage I-III breast cancer (1-4 years post-treatment) were included in this study. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) was assessed using the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale. Self-reported cognitive function was assessed with the Neuro-QoL questionnaire. Anxiety was assessed using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement System Bank. From this study, we found that anxiety mediates the association between IU and cognitive function of survivors. In other words, among post-menopausal breast cancer survivors, those with higher IU showed higher anxiety and consequently had lower cognitive function. This finding suggests that assessing IU may help predict the risk of CRCI. This study expands the current knowledge that addresses the importance of IU as a factor associated with cognitive health.
癌症相关认知障碍(CRCI)是乳腺癌幸存者经历的最常见症状之一。虽然癌症治疗是CRCI的确立因素,但CRCI的个体差异尚未得到很好的理解。对不确定性的敏感度的个体差异是CRCI的潜在因素;然而,之前没有研究试图在乳腺癌背景下研究这种联系。为了填补这一空白,我们使用了一项正在进行的横断面研究的初步结果。本研究共纳入了38名I-III期乳腺癌女性(治疗后1-4年)。使用不确定性不耐受量表评估不确定性不耐受(IU)。使用神经生活质量问卷评估自我报告的认知功能。使用患者报告结局测量系统库评估焦虑。从这项研究中,我们发现焦虑介导了IU与幸存者认知功能之间的关联。换句话说,在绝经后乳腺癌幸存者中,IU较高的人焦虑程度较高,因此认知功能较低。这一发现表明,评估IU可能有助于预测CRCI的风险。这项研究扩展了当前关于IU作为与认知健康相关因素的重要性的认识。