Cognitive functions and quality of life in patients with hematological malignancies following bone marrow transplantation Egyptian study

Abstract

Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside the

bones, the immature cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all of the types of blood cells are called Stem cells.

Replacement of the hematopoietic system, either in the form of hematopoietic stem cells from the patient themselves (autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; HSCT) or from another person (allogeneic HSCT), is a procedure that was used for the first time in man almost fifty years ago. It is a complex medical procedure used in the treatment of a variety of hematological disorders and other malignant diseases.

Bone marrow transplant patients are vulnerable to cognitive dysfunction and impaired quality of life at all stages in the process of treatment. To our knowledge, this is the first study for cognitive functions QOL in patients with hematological malignancies who survived HSCT in Egypt.

In this work, we conducted cross-sectional study, over 27 survivors, who had done bone marrow transplantation for hematological malignancies. We recruited them during their follow up in the BMT

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Summary

outpatient clinic. We interviewed them using Arabic version of The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality-of-Life Core Questionnaire (QLQC30), Work Ability index, and cognitive assessment tools. The results were compared to 33 healthy controls matched for age and sex.

As anticipated, we observed cognitive dysfunction in a significant percentage of patients. The dysfunction in these patients was most profound in logical memory, verbal learning, attention, executive functions, and psycho-motor speed. This was more prevalent among male gender, and lower educational levels, lower socio-economic states.

Cognitive complaints reported by our study’s participants largely failed to reflect their cognitive performance.

Our study’s participant reported more physical limitations or functional disability, social problems, decreased appetite, fatigue, and insomnia than their matched healthy controls.

Also they reported poor work ability in comparison to the healthy controls.