Social attainment in survivors of pediatric central nervous system tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis from the Children’s Oncology Group

Schulte F, Kunin-Batson AS, Olson-Bullis BA, Banerjee P, Hocking MC, Janzen L, Kahalley LS, Wroot H, Forbes C, Krull KR. Social attainment in survivors of pediatric central nervous system tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis from the Children’s Oncology Group. J Cancer Surviv. 2019 Dec;13(6):921-931. doi: 10.1007/s11764-019-00808-3. Epub 2019 Oct 17. PMID: 31625086; PMCID: PMC6900341.

Improved therapies for pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors have increased survival rates, however, many survivors experience significant long-term functional limitations. Survivors of pediatric CNS tumors can experience deficits in social attainment. The aim of this review was to systematically amalgamate findings pertaining to social attainment (i.e., educational attainment, marriage, employment outcomes) in survivors of pediatric CNS tumors. PubMed(Web-based), PsycINFO(EBSCO), EMBASE(Ovid), and Web of Science(Thomson Reuters) were used to identify articles published between January 2011 and September 2018. Eligible studies reported outcomes for survivors of pediatric CNS tumors diagnosed before age 21 years, and >5 years from diagnosis and/or >2 years off therapy. All data were independently abstracted by two reviewers. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed using Review Manager 5.0.