PhD Student Yang and Faculty Member Hendrix Submit Oncology Nursing Society Foundation Application

Kudos to PhD student Yesol Yang and her mentor Cristina Hendrix for the submission of their Oncology Nursing Society Foundation application entitled "Trajectory of Cognitive Function among Women with Breast Cancer: The influence of Caregiver Reaction." This proposal requests funding for a two-year period with a start date of Dec. 1, 2018.

Up to 75 percent of women with breast cancer self-report changes in their cognitive function while receiving and after adjuvant chemotherapy 1-3. These changes include difficulties with memory, verbal fluency, attention, and thought processing 4,5. Several studies reported that symptoms of anxiety, depression and fatigue that co-occur with cognitive changes (“co-occurring symptoms”) can influence cognitive function 3,6-9. For these reasons, researchers assert that assessing such co-occurring symptoms is critical to improving patient cognitive function 3,10-13. However, in making this assertion, researchers overlook the potential impact of caregiver reaction on patient cognitive function.

A caregiver, chosen by the patient as her main support person, shows either positive or negative (i.e. burden) reaction toward the care situation 14,15. One study reported that cancer patients demonstrated less memory problems when caregivers showed acceptance towards their new role as caregiver 16. Also, neurocognitive research has shown that, when caregiving burden was high, patients demonstrated cognitive decline and unstable mood 17-19. Taken together, caregiver reaction appears to influence the relationship between patient co-occurring symptoms and cognitive function. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore the longitudinal relationship between co-occurring symptoms and self-reported cognitive function among women with breast cancer and whether caregiver reaction mediates or moderates its relationship.  

Aim 1: Explore the trajectories of patient co-occurring symptoms (anxiety, depression and fatigue; [POMS]20) as well as self-reported cognitive function (FACT-Cognitive Function [FACT-Cog]21), and caregiver reaction (positive or negative; Caregiver Reaction Assessment [CRA22]) across six months, controlling for patient’s age and education level

Aim 2: Examine the longitudinal relationship between patient co-occurring symptoms and self-reported cognitive function and determine whether caregiver reaction moderates this relationship across six months

Aim 3: Examine whether caregiver reaction mediates the longitudinal relationship