An Exploratory Study of Cognitive Function and Central Adiposity in Men Receiving Androgen Deprivation Therapy for Prostate Cancer.
Jamie S Myers, Alana Manson, Sandra A Billinger and 5 others
PMID 35191898WHAT IT FOUND
In men starting androgen deprivation therapy, total fat mass significantly increased over six months.
Cognitive test scores and self-reported cognition showed no between-group differences. Exercise, nutrition, and education were given together, so no single component can be credited.
Key findings
01Total fat mass significantly increased from baseline to six months in the DEXA sample (N = 20).
02No between-group differences were observed for neurocognitive variables, and self-reported cognitive function did not change.
03The intervention group showed a between-group reduction in estimated visceral fat mass (p = 0.0173), but the study was a feasibility pilot not powered for significance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was a small feasibility pilot and was not powered to detect statistically significant differences. Only 33 men had baseline neurocognitive testing, and 26 had data at six and 12 months; the DEXA total fat mass analysis included 20 men. Several positive cognitive findings were reported before Bonferroni correction, so they may not be reliable after multiple comparisons. The intervention combined education, exercise, and nutrition coaching, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. Men were enrolled within 90 days of starting androgen deprivation therapy, which may have made baseline cognitive testing less comparable. ADT regimens varied, including single agents, combined blockade, radiation, or chemotherapy. DEXA was not done at 12 months, limiting longer-term adiposity-cognition comparisons.
Declared interests
Substudy funding supported DEXA scanning. The parent study was NIH-supported. The supplied text does not report author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the significant visceral fat reduction or regression interactions as evidence that exercise and nutrition coaching improve cognition. The study was a small feasibility pilot, the intervention also included education, and no between-group cognitive differences were found.