Table 2.
Extent of change in cognitive performance between baseline and follow-up neuropsychological assessment represented by mean differences (Mdiff) of percentile ranks (T2-T1; a score > 0 indicates a numerical improvement of cognitive performance over time), separated for dichotomized treatment groups (without radiotherapy [RT-] vs. with radiotherapy [RT+] and without chemotherapy [ChT-] vs. with chemotherapy [ChT+])
| RT- (n = 52) | RT+ (n = 34) | ANOVA | ChT- (n = 41) | ChT+ (n = 45) | ANOVA | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mdiff (95% CI) | Mdiff (95% CI) | F-value | df | p-value | Mdiff (95% CI) | Mdiff (95% CI) | F-value | df | p-value | |
| Short-term memory | 15.2 (7.2–23.3) | 3.6 (-6.5–13.7) | 3.34 | 1,84 | 0.071 | 10.1 (0.2–20.1) | 11.1 (2.8–19.3) | 0.02 | 1,84 | 0.885 |
| Working memory | 20.3 (6.4–34.2) | 15.5 (2.5–28.4) | 0.23 | 1,83 | 0.630 | 14.1 (-1.2–29.4) | 22.3 (9.5–35.1) | 0.71 | 1,83 | 0.403 |
| Simple reaction time | 8.3 (-0.6–17.3) | 20.0 (10.3–29.6) | 2.98 | 1,83 | 0.088 | 11.6 (1.3–22.0) | 14.0 (5.2–22.8) | 0.13 | 1,83 | 0.724 |
| Selective attention | 19.3 (11.3–27.3) | 26.4 (13.5–39.3) | 1.00 | 1,81 | 0.320 | 19.1 (9.1–29.1) | 24.5 (14.8–34.1) | 0.60 | 1,81 | 0.440 |
| Inhibition | 15.2 (6.2–24.2) | 19.9 (7.6–32.2) | 0.41 | 1,82 | 0.523 | 16.5 (5.1–27.8) | 17.4 (8.0–26.8) | 0.02 | 1,82 | 0.897 |
| Verbal memory | 14.8 (7.0–22.5) | 6.1 (-0.8–13.0) | 2.40 | 1,82 | 0.125 | 13.6 (5.1–22.0) | 9.4 (2.1–16.7) | 0.58 | 1,82 | 0.449 |
| Figural memory | 21.8 (14.8–28.9) | 8.3 (-2.4–19.0) | 4.95 | 1,76 | 0.029* a | 17.1 (7.2–26.9) | 15.1 (6.9–23.2) | 0.10 | 1,76 | 0.752 |
| Fluency | 10.4 (1.6–19.1) | 18.6 (6.7–30.5) | 1.31 | 1,82 | 0.256 | 16.5 (6.3–26.7) | 11.0 (1.1–20.8) | 0.61 | 1,82 | 0.438 |
ANOVA test statistics illustrate differences in extent of cognitive change between RT- patients and RT+ patients and between ChT- patients and ChT+ patients, respectively. Asterisks indicate statistically significant group differences
CI confidence interval, df degree of freedom
a Non-irradiated patients show a significantly greater increase in figural memory performance than irradiated patients within two years after post-surgery baseline assessment
* p < 0.05