Arch Dis Child 1999;80:318-323 ( April )

Attentional ability among survivors of leukaemia

J Rodgers,^a J Horrocks,^a P G Britton,^b J Kernahan^c

^a Division of Psychology, St Peter's Campus, St Peter's Way, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR6 0DD, UK, ^b Department of Psychiatry, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle NE1 4LP, UK, ^c Department of Child Health, University of Newcastle upon Tyne

Correspondence to: Dr Rodgers.

Accepted 11 November 1998

Attentional ability in 19 survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and 19 sibling controls was assessed using a neuropsychological model of attention. Analysis revealed that children who had received treatment for leukaemia exhibited significantly poorer performance on measures of the "focus encode" and "focus execute" elements of attention and on measures of the ability to respond to external cues and feedback. No significant differences in performance were found for measures of sustained attention and the ability to shift attention. These results indicate that children who have received treatment for leukaemia may experience highly specific attentional deficits that could have an impact on academic performance, particularly mathematical and reading skills. It is suggested that this underlying attentional deficit might be the source of the neuropsychological sequelae associated with the disease. Future attempts at remediation should incorporate activities specifically designed to ameliorate focusing difficulties.

Keywords: leukaemia; attentional ability; focusing difficulties

---

© 1999 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Conklin, H. M., Helton, S., Ashford, J., Mulhern, R. K., Reddick, W. E., Brown, R., Bonner, M., Jasper, B. W., Wu, S., Xiong, X., Khan, R. B. (2009). Predicting Methylphenidate Response in Long-Term Survivors of Childhood Cancer: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Trial. J Pediatr Psychol 0: jsp044v1-jsp044 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gross-King, M., Booth-Jones, M., Couluris, M. (2008). Neurocognitive Impairment in Children Treated for Cancer: How Do We Measure Cognitive Outcomes?. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing 25: 227-232 [Abstract]  
• Conklin, H. M., Khan, R. B., Reddick, W. E., Helton, S., Brown, R., Howard, S. C., Bonner, M., Christensen, R., Wu, S., Xiong, X., Mulhern, R. K. (2007). Acute Neurocognitive Response to Methylphenidate Among Survivors of Childhood Cancer: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Cross-Over Trial. J Pediatr Psychol 32: 1127-1139 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Spencer, J. (2006). The Role of Cognitive Remediation in Childhood Cancer Survivors Experiencing Neurocognitive Late Effects. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing 23: 321-325 [Abstract]  
• Butler, R. W., Mulhern, R. K. (2005). Neurocognitive Interventions for Children and Adolescents Surviving Cancer. J Pediatr Psychol 30: 65-78 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mulhern, R. K., Khan, R. B., Kaplan, S., Helton, S., Christensen, R., Bonner, M., Brown, R., Xiong, X., Wu, S., Gururangan, S., Reddick, W. E. (2004). Short-Term Efficacy of Methylphenidate: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Among Survivors of Childhood Cancer. JCO 22: 4795-4803 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lam, L. C. W., Leung, S. F., Chan, Y. L. (2003). Progress of Memory Function After Radiation Therapy in Patients With Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. J. Neuropsychiatry Clin. Neurosi. 15: 90-97 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rodgers, J, Marckus, R, Kearns, P, Windebank, K (2003). Attentional ability among survivors of leukaemia treated without cranial irradiation. Arch. Dis. Child. 88: 147-150 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Thompson, S. J., Leigh, L., Christensen, R., Xiong, X., Kun, L. E., Heideman, R. L., Reddick, W. E., Gajjar, A., Merchant, T., Pui, C.-H., Hudson, M. M., Mulhern, R. K. (2001). Immediate Neurocognitive Effects of Methylphenidate on Learning-Impaired Survivors of Childhood Cancer. JCO 19: 1802-1808 [Abstract] [Full Text]