• Ali Amidi, Lisa M Wu, Anders Degn Pedersen, Mimi Mehlsen, Christina Gundgaard Pedersen, Philip Rossen, Mads Agerbæk, and Robert Zachariae.
• Unit for Psycho Oncology and Health Psychology, Aarhus University Hospital and Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark, sayamidi@gmail.com.
• Support Care Cancer. 2015 Oct 1; 23 (10): 2973-9.

PurposeThe aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment (CI) in a group of testicular (TC) survivors by comparing their neuropsychological test scores with normative data and to assess their performance in specific cognitive domains.MethodsSeventy-two TC survivors were evaluated 2 to 7 years post-treatment with a neuropsychological test battery that assessed multiple cognitive domains-attention and working memory, processing speed, verbal fluency, learning and memory, and executive functioning. Test scores were compared with normative data, and CI status was calculated for each participant.ResultsIn group-level analyses, survivors exhibited significantly impaired scores on a majority (9/12) of the neuropsychological outcomes (p < 0.01). In individual-level analyses, 62.5 % of the survivors were classified as having CI, significantly exceeding the expected normative frequency of 25 % (binomial test: p < 0.001). In particular, CI was observed in multiple outcomes related to verbal learning and memory (29 to 33 % of participants), visual learning and memory (14-28 %), processing speed (8-24 %), executive functioning (17 %), and attention and working memory (4-15 %). No association was found between treatment modality (surgery ± chemotherapy) and CI.ConclusionsThe prevalence of CI in TC survivors was unexpectedly high, with survivors performing significantly worse than expected on a majority of the neuropsychological outcomes. While the findings are preliminary in nature, they still have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of CI in TC survivors.

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