Date of Award
5-2018
Degree Type
Report
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education
Committee Chair(s)
Lisa Milman
Committee
Lisa Milman
Committee
Arron Preston
Committee
Jared Schultz
Abstract
Purpose: Brain tumors and associated treatments in children have been shown to cause long term neurological damage. While there is a large body of research focusing on treating associated cognitive deficits, relatively little research has focused on improving linguistic ability in this population. This systematic review identified and summarized the available evidence related to language treatment for pediatric brain tumor survivors.
Methods: A systematic electronic database search resulted in the identification of four relevant treatment studies, two position papers and one online forum. A data extraction manual and form was used to methodically extract study information related to participant demographics, language treatment, outcomes, and study methodology. A reference list of included articles was generated and descriptive data synthesis procedures were applied.
Results: Studies focused primarily on children diagnosed with medulloblastomas in the acute phase of tumor treatment. Language interventions mainly aimed to improve/preserve reading ability. This resulted in varying outcomes as indicated by both experimental and standardized measures. Overall methodological quality of the studies was considered to be moderate. The position papers and online forum provided general suggestions for working with the pediatric brain tumor survivor population.
Discussion: The available evidence for treating language deficits in pediatric brain tumor survivors is summarized. Further research is needed to investigate long term effects of alternative treatments in children diagnosed with various tumor types.
Recommended Citation
Watt, Ari, "A Systematic Review of Language Therapy in Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors" (2018). All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023. 1222.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports/1222
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