Zucchella, C., Capone, A., Codella, V., De Nunzio, A.M., Vecchione, C., Sandrini, G., . . . Bartolo, M. (2013). Cognitive rehabilitation for early post-surgery inpatients affected by primary brain tumor: A randomized, controlled trial. Journal of Neuro-Oncology, 114, 93-100.
To evaluate the effectiveness of a cognitive rehabilitation program within two weeks of surgical resection for patients with primary brain tumors
Baseline neuropsychological assessments were performed within three days of admission to the inpatient rehabilitation unit and prior to treatment or control randomization. Treatment arm consisted of 16 one-hour individual sessions over a four week timeframe with content focused on time orientation, spatial orientation, visual attention, logical reasoning, memory recognition, and executive functions. Each session was therapist-guided with 45 minutes of computer-based exercises and 15 minutes of discussion about the exercises and how to apply the strategies to everyday life. In both arms of the study, patients received usual rehabilitation care with medication and physical therapies.
PHASE OF CARE: Active antitumor treatment
Randomized double-blind control trial with pre- and post-test assessments at baseline and four weeks after randomization
Within-group analyses found significant improvements (p < 0.05) on all neuropsychological tests for the treatment arm, while the control arm showed a non-significant trend towards improvement. Significant differences between groups were observed for improvements in visual attention and verbal memory (RAVLT-DR, Logical memory-IR and DR, TMT-A, TMT-B, Attentive matrices). There was no difference between groups in the socio-demographic, clinical characteristics, or baseline neuropsychological test scores. There was no difference between groups for number of subjects withdrawing from study due to medical conditions.
This inpatient cognitive rehabilitation program was developed for patients with a post-surgical primary brain tumor. Those receiving the intervention showed significant cognitive improvement in all domains, yet only visual attention and verbal memory performances were significantly different when compared to usual rehabilitation care. These results are limited by sample size, lack of additional longitudinal assessments to demonstrate sustained improvement, and program cost.
Post-surgical cognitive interventions may be helpful in developing cognitive strategies for everyday function. Further study is warranted and intervention adaptation is necessary for outpatient settings.