Cancer
Conditions
Keywords
Metacognition, Pediatric cancer, Neurorehabilitation, Cognitive training, Physical training, Adolescents with cancer
Brief summary
The aim of the Mio-Study is to address the current lack of effective treatment options to reduce cognitive and physical long-term problems in children and adolescents with cancer. Through the use of the Mio-App, cognitive and physical development will be strengthened and metacognitive thinking and awareness will increase. The Mio-App for children and adolescence with cancer will include a combination of cognitive and physical training tasks and prospective as well as retrospective metacognitive questions. In a randomized controlled trial, the App will be analysed for its efficacy on metacognitive thinking and executive functions. In particular, the investigators are interested in factors that affect the efficacy of the training program such as compliance, age, sex or the presence of fatigue. This study will give insight into the role of metacognition in cognitive and physical performance and will foster the development of children and adolescents with cancer in the long-term.
Detailed description
In the Mio-Study, the investigators are developing a training app at the interface between neuropsychology and sports science - the Mio-training. The aim of the Mio-training is to strengthen the cognitive and motor development of children and adolescents after cancer in the long-term. The App contains a combination of cognitive and physical training tasks and metacognitive questions to promote knowledge and awareness of one's own thinking. In order to counteract the shortage of skilled workers and the increasing specialization of individual specialist areas, solutions are needed that can be implemented without a lot of staff. From today's perspective, there are hardly any trainings for children and adolescents that show long-term effects on cognitive and motor development and can also be transferred to non-trained tasks in school and everyday life. The investigators are testing the effectiveness of the Mio-training in a randomized clinical trial (RCT) and expect a strengthening of metacognition and core cognitive functions (i.e. executive functions). The Mio-Study will provide information about the role of metacognition in cognitive and physical performance and, ideally, provide evidence for a novel, interdisciplinary rehabilitation strategy for children and adolescents after cancer.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALMio-App
The Mio-App aims to increase metacognitive knowledge, teaches mnemonic skills, trains the working memory capacity and motor skills to reduce cognitive and physical long-term sequelae after cancer during adolescence.
Sponsors
University of Bern
Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
8 Years to 16 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Informed consent as documented by signature (see Informed Consent Form) of participants and / or parents / legal guardians * Age 8-16 years * A diagnosis of cancer either with or without CNS involvement. The participant will be included between 3 months before to 10 years after termination of treatment. * Treatment of cancer including either radiation, chemotherapy and/ or surgical tumor removal * German or French speaking
Exclusion criteria
* Any other instable neurological condition (e.g. epilepsy) * A severe psychiatric disease (e.g., eating disorder) or severe learning disability * Known or suspected non-compliance * Drug or alcohol abuse * Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems * Enrolment of the investigator, his/her family members, employees and other dependent persons
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory | At baseline; immediately (up to 1 week) after the training or waiting period; at 3-months follow-up | Total score of the Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory over the three timepoints (baseline, immediate followup & 3-months follow-up). Raw values ranging 18-90. Higher scores mean better outcome. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Tower of Hanoi (D-KEFS) | At baseline; immediately (up to 1 week) after the training or waiting period. | Scaled Scores ranging from 1 to 19. Higher scores mean better outcome. |
| Pattern learning (Basic-MLT) | At baseline; immediately (up to 1 week) after the training or waiting period. | Percentile ranks ranging from 0-100. Higher scores mean better outcome. |
| German Motor Performance Test (DMT) | At baseline; immediately (up to 1 week) after the training or waiting period. | Percentile ranks ranging from 0-100. Higher scores mean better outcome. |
| Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function | At baseline; immediately (up to 1 week) after the training or waiting period; at 3-months follow-up. | Percentile ranks ranging from 0-100. Higher scores mean better outcome. |
| Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children: 5th Ed (WISC-V) | At baseline; immediately (up to 1 week) after the training or waiting period. | Indices ranging from 0 to 155. Higher scores mean better outcome. |
| Color-Word Interference Test | At baseline; immediately (up to 1 week) after the training or waiting period. | Scaled Scores ranging from 1 to 19. Higher scores mean better outcome. |
| Verbal learning and memory test (VLMT) | At baseline; immediately (up to 1 week) after the training or waiting period. | Percentile ranks ranging from 0-100. Higher scores mean better outcome. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pediatric quality of life multidimensional fatigue scale (PedsQL-MFS) | At baseline; immediately (up to 1 week) after the training or waiting period; at 3-months follow-up. | 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 to 4. Higher scores mean better outcome. |
| Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ-S) | At baseline; immediately (up to 1 week) after the training or waiting period; at 3-months follow-up. | Short version, Likert scale ranging from 1 to 6. Higher scores mean better outcome. |
| Questionnaire for the Assessment of Resources and Competencies in Childhood and Adolescence (FRKJ) | At baseline; immediately (up to 1 week) after the training or waiting period; at 3-months follow-up. | Stanine rank from 1-9. Higher score mean better outcome. |
Countries
Switzerland
Contacts
Primary ContactRegula Everts, Prof. Dr. phil.
Backup ContactSaskia Salzmann, MSc
Outcome results
None listed