Long-Term Functional Effects of Medulloblastoma Treatments

All studies relate directly to components of the evidence-based practice question and were used to understand the possible long-term effects of treatment for clients diagnosed with medulloblastoma cancer. This Critically Appraised Topic (CAT) contains 6 research articles from both national and international journals. Study designs include two cohort studies with a control group, 1 cross sectional study with a control group, 1 retrospective cohort study without a control group, 1 descriptive report on a Randomized Control Trial (RCT), and 1 descriptive study. Through these studies, we found that radiation treatment is associated with impaired IQ and academic achievement and that generalized or separation anxiety is common among medulloblastoma patients after treatment. We also found that better outcomes in functioning were associated with age, dosage, time of diagnosis, and medulloblastoma type. Our recommendations for OT practice include assessing processing speed, working memory, verbal skills, executive function, and attention and monitoring cognitive effects of occupational therapy interventions using a Goal Attainment Scale (GAS)