Cancers (Jan 2023)

Associations between Lifestyle Factors and Neurocognitive Impairment among Chinese Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Survivors of Sarcoma

  • Yin Ting Cheung,
  • Chung Tin Ma,
  • Michael Can Heng Li,
  • Keary Rui Zhou,
  • Herbert Ho Fung Loong,
  • Agnes Sui Yin Chan,
  • Kwok Chuen Wong,
  • Chi Kong Li

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15030799
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 3
p. 799

Abstract

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Background: The effect of lifestyle on neurocognitive impairment among cancer survivors remain an understudied area. This study explored the association between lifestyle factors and neurocognitive outcomes (specifically, attention, memory, processing speed and cognitive flexibility) in AYA survivors (aged 15–39 years) of sarcoma. Methods: This study recruited 116 AYA survivors (age 28.2 (SD = 8.2) years), who were diagnosed with osteosarcoma (49%) or soft-tissue sarcoma (51%) at age 13.3 (SD = 7.2) years. The neurocognitive battery included measures of attention, memory, motor-processing speed, and cognitive flexibility. Survivors reported health-damaging practices, which included: physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol intake, inadequate sleep (9 h/day). General linear modeling was conducted to examine the association between lifestyle factors and neurocognitive outcomes, adjusting for age at diagnosis, sex, education attainment and clinical/treatment variables. Results: At 14.9 (SD = 7.6) years post-diagnosis, survivors demonstrated impairment in attentiveness (4.3–13.0%), processing speed (34.5%) and cognitive flexibility (18.1%). Nearly half (45.7%) had developed a chronic health condition (CHC). Low physical activity (estimate = −0.97, p = 0.003) and sleep-related fatigue (estimate = −0.08, p = 0.005) were associated with inattention. Survivors who worked >9 h/day (n = 15) demonstrated worse attention (estimate = 5.42, p = 0.023) and cognitive flexibility (estimate = 5.22, p = 0.005) than survivors who worked ≤9 h/day (n = 66). Interaction analysis (CHCs*physical activity) showed that survivors who developed CHCs and reported low physical activity had worse attention (p = 0.032) and cognitive-flexibility (p = 0.019) scores than other subgroups. Conclusion: Treatment-related CHCs, coupled with continued physical inactivity, may exacerbate inattention and executive dysfunction among survivors. Long working hours and sleep-related fatigue are associated with worse functioning; this finding should be validated with prospective assessment of work-related stressors and objective sleep measures.

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