title: Cognitive function in cancer survivors: analysis of the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cancer and its treatment may affect cognitive function through a number of direct and indirect pathways including inflammation, lipid metabolism, vascular damage, and changes in the blood-brain barrier. While short-term treatment-related cognitive changes are well recognized, only limited research is available in older, long-term survivors of cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using NHANES data from 1999 to 2002, 408 cancer survivors and 2639 non-cancer participants aged 60 years old and above were identified. Cognitive function of these groups were compared using the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) and self-reported problems with memory or confusion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjustment for covariates, cancer survivors scored, on average, 1.99 points lower on the DSST compared to non-cancer survivors (-1.99, 95 % CI -3.94, -0.05). Cancer survivors also had 17 % higher odds of self-reporting problems with memory or confusion (OR 1.17, 95 % CI 0.89, 1.53).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this nationally representative sample of older US adults, cancer survivors had lower DSST scores than non-survivors and had more self-reported problems with memory or confusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA. AnnaLynn_Williams@urmc.rochester.edu.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Cancer Control, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Janelsins
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Wijngaarden
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Cancer survivors; Cognition; Cognitive function; NHANES