Issue №4-21, 2022

Associations of Cancer-Related Fatigue with Autonomic and Sensorimotor Functions in Children Treated for Brain Tumors: an Observational Study



1,2 ORCIDElena N. Likhomanova, 1 ORCIDAnastasia V. Kovaleva

1 Anokhin Research Institute of Normal Physiology, Moscow, Russian Federation
2 Dmitry Rogachev National Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Immunology, Chekhov, Russian Federation


ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION. Chronic fatigue syndrome is a condition, characterized by a severe fatigue that lasts continuously for more than6 months and has a significant negative impact on the psychophysiological functions. Cancer-related fatigue is identified as animportant symptom associated with cancer, associated with autonomic dysfunction.AIM. To reveal objective autonomic and neurodynamic indicators of the severity of CRF in children suffered of neuro-oncologicaldiseases.MATERIAL AND METHODS. Children (8-17 years old) who were under dynamic observation after neuro-oncological diseases for morethan six months (n=67) performed maximal tapping tasks, auditory-motor synchronization, and filled out the questionnaire «TheTurkish Scale for the Assessment of Fatigue in Pediatric Oncology Patients Aged 7-18». Physiological indices (heart rhythm, peripheraltemperature, skin conductance, breathing amplitude and frequency) were recorded at rest and during sensorimotor task.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. The subscale “Sleep-related fatigue” positively correlates with the average frequency of maximum tappingand with the degree of its slowdown towards the end, which also correlates with the total score of the questionnaire. Statisticallysignificant correlations of scores on the subscale “Subjective feelings of fatigue” with LF/HF and pNN50 at rest were revealed. Theamplitude of thoracic respiration positively correlates with the scores of “Fatigue associated with daily activities”, “Subjective feelingof fatigue”, and the total score. Comparison of groups with a low and high total score of the questionnaire does not reveal statisticallysignificant differences in the background indicators of heart rate variability, however, in the process of maximum tapping, the RMSSDand pNN50 indicators are higher, and the indicator of nonlinear heart rate analysis SD2/SD1 is lower in the group with low scores onthe questionnaire.CONCLUSION. Children with cancer-related fatigue had reduced heart rate variability, lower parasympathetic tone and greaterexhaustion during the tapping test. The combination of objective and subjective indicators reflects the dynamics of cancer-relatedfatigue and the rehabilitation process more reliably.


KEYWORDS: children, brain tumor, chronic fatigue syndrome, cancer-related fatigue, tapping test, autonomic functions, sensorimotor functions, questionnaire

For citation: Likhomanova E.N., Kovaleva A.V. Associations of Cancer-Related Fatigue with Autonomic and Sensorimotor Functions in Children Treated for Brain Tumors: an Observational Study. Bulletin of Rehabilitation Medicine. 2022; 21 (4): 60-70. https://doi.org/10.38025/2078-1962-2022-21-4-60-70



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This is an open article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by the National Medical Research Center for Rehabilitation and Balneology.

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