The Effect of Chemotherapy on Memory in Children with Cancer

Aim: The present study examined everyday memory performance in children with cancer before, during, and after chemotherapy. Methods: This research employed a causal-comparative design and included 23 healthy children without illness, 12 children before treatment, 23 children undergoing treatment, and 14 children after treatment, aged 8 to 17 years. Participants were selected through convenience sampling from Mahak Hospital and schools in Tehran. Memory performance was assessed using the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test (Wilson et al., 2008). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (analysis of variance). Findings: The results indicated that the performance of children and adolescents with cancer in everyday memory, new learning, spatial memory, orientation, verbal memory, and prospective memory did not differ significantly across the four study groups. However, the mean visual memory score in the cancer groups during and after treatment was significantly lower than that of the healthy group and the pre-treatment group, and this difference was statistically significant (F = 2.261, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Based on the findings, chemotherapy leads to a reduction in visual memory performance in children with cancer during and after treatment. On the one hand, this decline may be attributed to the effects of chemotherapy drugs on the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, resulting in memory impairment. On the other hand, memory is strongly influenced by stress and psychological difficulties associated with cancer and its intensive treatments, as well as by the lack of adequate cognitive support.