19 Processing Speed and Academic Fluency in Childhood Survivors of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treated with Chemotherapy Only

Abstract

Objective:

The purpose of this study using archival data was to examine processing speed (PS) and its relation with academic fluencies in children who were diagnosed with, and treated with chemotherapy for, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) before vs. after five years of age. Chemotherapy is the first-line treatment for childhood leukemias, and the impact of cancer treatment on academic and global functioning may include a steady decline in functions over time (Baron & Rey-Casserly, 2013). Specifically, this research initiative examined age and gender factors in PS and academic fluencies in this population.

Participants and Methods:

Sixty-eight participants (39 M, 29 F; mean age 10.6 years) diagnosed with ALL and who were previously treated with chemotherapy were included. Thirty-seven participants (23 M, 14 F) were <5 years of age at the time of diagnosis and onset of chemotherapy, while 31 participants (16M, 15 F) were >5 years of age at diagnosis and treatment. Participants ranged in age from 6 to 17 years at the time of their neuropsychological evaluation. Participants were given the WISC-V (PS subtests) and WJ-IV academic fluencies (math and reading). To evaluate research questions and hypotheses, correlational tests, independent samples t-tests, and analyses of variance (ANOVA) were used. Results at the p< .05 level are reported.

Results:

There were significant correlations between PS and WJ math fluency (r=.510) and reading fluency (r=.392). Independent samples t-test analyses revealed that children who scored below 85 (standard score) on PS composite score demonstrated poorer performance on WJ math fluency (t(60)=-3.971, p=.000, d=1.065) and reading fluency (t(56)=-3.041, p=.004, d=0.896) compared to children whose PS scores were > 85. For children whose PS scores were <85, mean scores were in the low average range for WJ-IV math fluency (M=81.05) and reading fluency (M=84.50). No significant differences were found for age or gender in relation to PS and academic fluencies.

Conclusions:

Findings are important in highlighting the need for school accommodations in pediatric survivors of ALL. Processing speed is one of the most vulnerable functions impacted by cancer therapies and was positively correlated with reading and math fluencies in this study. Mean scores for math and reading fluencies were low average for age. In terms of academic accommodations, due to the slow processing speed of these boys and girls, regardless of their age at diagnosis and onset of chemotherapy, the provision for extra time for ALL survivors is recommended to ensure they are given the opportunity to maximize their learning potential and demonstrate their true academic abilities. Parents are encouraged to practice basic fluencies at home as early as possible. Inhospital and home-bound schooling supports are recommended to maintain educational progress. For children at higher risk for late effects and neurocognitive decline, rehabilitation similar to that which TBI survivors receive can be effective, as well. Future prospective research, including longitudinal tracking, with more homogeneous samples of pediatric survivors of ALL is expected to extend and refine findings of the present study.