2.4 |. Outcome measures

For both the pCRCI study and maSCD study, a CCI score was calculated as the percentage of all items endorsed. For the pCRCI study, participants were required to have endorsement of at least 20% of all items to be considered as having chemotherapy-related subjective complaints²⁶ (n = 24). For the maSCD study, participants were categorized in the maSCD+ group (n = 16) if they endorsed more than 20% of the items on these questionnaires. Conversely, participants were categorized in the maSCD− group (n = 23) if they endorsed less than 20% of items on the CCI. The maSCD study, like the pCRCI study, also targeted women who had cognitive complaints; however, they were not required to have a specific score on the CCI for study entry. Only after the screening visit were women sorted into the maSCD+ and maSCD− groups based off their CCI score. Beck Depression Inventory scores were calculated according to Beck et al,²³ with higher scores indicating more severe depressive symptoms. The Menopause Symptom Checklist (MSC) score was calculated according to Newhouse et al,²⁴ with higher scores indicating greater menopausal symptoms.

The 2 studies shared similar cognitive testing batteries enabling comparison of the datasets. These cognitive domains included tests of simple attention and verbal episodic memory. Only baseline data are included from each study.

The critical flicker fusion (CFF) task²⁹ was used as a test of attention/vigilance. The outcome variable for CFF is frequency (Hz) for ascending and descending trials. The choice reaction time (CRT task³⁰) was used as a measure of attention and psychomotor speed. Outcome variables on the CRT included the mean and median processing reaction time (time from stimulus onset to initiation of movement), the mean and median motor reaction time (time from initiation of movement to stimulus termination), and mean and median total reaction time, with lower scores indicating better performance. The Buschke selective reminding task (SRT)³¹ was used to assess immediate and delayed memory recall. Participants are read a list of 16 words and must immediately recall the list across 8 trials. Upon completing the immediate recall portion of the SRT and after a 20-minute delay, participants are asked to complete a single delayed recall trial. See Supporting Information for more details regarding all cognitive tasks.

One-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Mac, version 24 (IBM Corp, Armonk, New York) to evaluate group differences between pCRCI study participants and maSCD study participants (categorized as either maSCD+ or maSCD−) on behavioral and cognitive outcome measures. Correlations between behavioral and cognitive measures were performed using Pearson product-moment correlations. For correlation analyses, CCI was analyzed as a continuous variable. The alpha level for rejection of the null hypothesis was set at P < .05. All behavioral analyses and the SRT analysis included data from all 63 participants. Three participants from the maSCD− group failed to complete the CRT and CFF and were therefore excluded from those analyses. Tukey honestly significant difference was used to look at pairwise differences. All pairwise comparisons are FDR corrected for multiple comparisons.