Instrumental activities of daily living and neuropsychological functioning among patients with different types of cancer.

Abstract

The ability to perform instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) is important for maintaining independent living, and optimal health-related quality of life and well-being. Neuropsychological measures are predictors of IADL ratings. The aims of the present study were to measure ability to perform IADL in patients with cancer and to explore the relationship between IADL and neuropsychological functioning. We evaluated IADL in 182 patients with four different types of cancer (thyroid, colorectal, breast and prostate cancer) and examined the relationship between IADL and neuropsychological functioning 6months after chemotherapy treatment. Our results showed that patients with breast cancer had significantly greater difficulty in performing IADL compared to patients with other types of cancer. There were no differences in IADL performance among the other three study groups. In addition, we found that neuropsychological score was a predictor of IADL; the greater the patients' disability, the lower their performance on neuropsychological measures. This is in accordance with the literature that suggests neuropsychological measures to be predictors of IADL ratings. The present findings are important because, although many researchers have studied the relationship between IADL and neuropsychological functioning in cancer, few studies have investigated IADL in different types of cancer. Optimal neuropsychological functioning is connected with better ability with regard to IADL.