Abstract
Abstract BACKGROUND High grade gliomas (HGGs) are incurable primary brain tumors, with limited survival times. Patients experience a variety of physical, cognitive, psycho-social changes that may negatively impact patient’s quality of life (QOL). Moreover, patient caregivers’ QOL are also often negatively impacted. As such, interventions to improve patient and caregiver QOL are needed. This study aims to evaluate whether art therapy positively impacts QOL among patients with HGG and their caregivers. METHODS This is a planned study with a target of 20 newly diagnosed or early treatment HGG patients and their caregiver matches. Each patient (with the option of one caregiver per patient) will participate in six (6) monthly art therapy sessions with licensed art therapists and structured curriculum. Patient and caregiver QOL will be assessed before, during, and after the six-month study period using validated scales including the HADS, EORTC-QL-C30, and COQL-C. The data will be aggregated following study completion for statistical modeling. DISCUSSION The positive impact of art therapy on QOL has previously been well established in patients with oncologic and neurologic conditions. However, there is a gap in our understanding of the impact of such therapies among patients with primary neuro-oncologic disorders. These patients face uniquely difficult physical, cognitive, and psychosocial challenges as a result of their unique disease process. It would stand to reason that newly diagnosed HGG patients may benefit from early enrolment and participation in these therapies to improve their overall QOL, particularly shortly after diagnosis and during active anti-cancer therapies. CONCLUSION To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the impact of such intervention in newly diagnosed HGG patients. This pilot study will assess if early intervention with such therapies can lead to significant changes in patients and/or caregiver measurable QOL metrics.
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