Effect of the Cancer Pain on the Neurocognitive Function in Children undergoing chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: Pediatric cancer and its treatment may influence physical, psycho social and
neurocognitive functions of childhood cancer survivors (CCS). The present study aimed to
identify cancer pain and its effect on the functional ability and neurocognitive function
among children receiving chemotherapy Adescriptivedesign was used to conduct this
study.The study was conducted on 60 children receiving chemotherapy at Pediatric oncology
departement at Zagazig University children Hospital. Fourtools were used in the study: The
first tool : Structured interview sheet. The second tool :Mcgill pain scale. The third tool:
FACT-Cog scale. The results that most of the studied children had negative impact on quality
of life. It was found that there was highly statistically significant (p<0.01) relation between
total pain score, total physical function score and total score of neuro-cognitive function of
studied children. Therefore it was concluded that children suffering from cancer pain and
receiving chemotherapy had negativeimpact on functional ability & neurocognitive function
due to cancer treatment and chemotherapy side effects. It was recommended that developing
educational program to family members about early interventions to improve cancer treatment
and decrease negative side effects of functional disability& neurocognitive impairment is
mandatory.