Psychosocial
Educational Achievment
Childhood cancer survivors are at risk for compromised educational achievement owing to disruptions during treatment of normal life activities and events and normal growth and development, neurocognitive difficulties, psychological difficulties and additional social disruptions.
The impact of the childhood cancer experience on educational attainment has been investigated in several studies with contradictory findings. These mixed findings might be explained by differences in the composition of the survivors as well as the comparison groups (i.e., siblings, matched-controls, and the general population).
Childhood cancer survivors are at risk for 27, 30, 33:
- Repeating a grade in school
- Requiring special education or learning disabilities programs
- The use of special education services by childhood cancer survivors has been found to mitigate the increased risk for not completing high school, suggesting that these services and programs can be effective 34.
- Not completing high school
- Not entering or completing college or university
Cancer survivors report struggling with notions of competence/incompetence, as constructed by others and themselves, in educational and academic settings 35.
Risk factors for poorer educational attainment include 27, 30, 33, 34, 36-42:
- CNS tumor diagnosis
- Cranial irradiation treatment
- Intrathecal methotrexate treatment
- Younger age at diagnosis
- Older at the time of study participation
- Female sex
- Diagnosed with epilepsy
- Treatment-induced hearing loss
Link:
COG Survivorship Guidelines: Educational issues following treatment for childhood cancer
