For this assignment, we will focus on depression and cognitive changes in breast cancer patients. Cancer-related cognitive impairment is a common complaint among patients with breast cancer. It can negatively affect patients’ quality of life and their ability to work. These cognitive changes may appear years after beginning breast cancer treatment. This is especially in cases of patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. Women describe concentration problems and difficulties with word-finding, multitasking, or remembering new information. They also tend to need more effort and time to accomplish various tasks. Managing cognitive dysfunction is a hard task. Older patients seem more likely to experience cognitive decline with chemotherapy than young women with breast cancer.
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EFFECT OF COGNITIVE DIFFICULTIES IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS
Even with improved breast cancer treatment, chemotherapy-related cognitive impairments continue to affect patients’ quality of life negatively. It disrupts their return to work and leads to a decrease in self-confidence at work or in social relationships. Some breast cancer survivors report diminished quality of life and daily functioning as a result of cancer-related cognitive impairment. They have to use coping strategies to manage their professional and social lives. Some patients also assert that cognitive impairment is the most troublesome post-treatment symptom. For them, managing cognitive dysfunction is frustrating and detrimental to their self-confidence and social relationships. Cognitive impairment may lead to reduced therapeutic benefit. Lastly, there is a relationship between adherence and prospective memory, executive functioning, working memory, and attention.
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DEPRESSION AND COGNITIVE CHANGES AND HOW TO IDENTIFY COGNITIVE DIFFICULTIES
Some of the cancer-related cognitive impairment include concentration problems, such as during reading a book, and difficulties with word-finding. Cognitive functioning is assessed objectively with cognitive tests and subjectively with self-report questionnaires. As part of breast cancer treatment, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Cognitive Function questionnaire assesses cognitive complaints. Also, cognitive complaints in patients with breast cancer seem to decrease at six months after chemotherapy. In managing cognitive dysfunction, this suggests a partial recovery. Patients’ perceptions of impairment are essential because of the significant effect they have on the quality of life. Cognitive complaints are not always related to objective cognitive performances. However, they correlate strongly with psychological factors.
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