Web-based cognitive interventions on subjective cognitive impairment in cancer survivors: A systemic review

Cancer survivors have experienced subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) when they received cancer diagnoses or treatments. Their psychosocial and emotional statuses were also impacted. With the advancement of web technologies, web-based cognitive interventions have been implemented in the management and the alleviation of the SCI, the psychosocial distress, and the emotional distress in cancer survivors. This review aimed to summarize the intervention contents of web-based cognitive interventions for SCI, and to explore the effects of the interventions on SCI, psychosocial status, and emotional health.

Six databases (CINAHL Plus, Cochrane Library, Embase, APA PsycInfo, PubMed and CNKI) were searched from the establishment of databases up to December 2023. Literature references were also manually searched for related articles.

This review contained 21 studies that covered the contents of web-based cognitive interventions, such as computer-assisted cognitive training, online cognitive rehabilitation, cognitive behavior therapy with the Internet, telehealth physical exercise, and web-based mindfulness interventions. The effects of web-based cognitive interventions positively impacted SCI for cancer survivors. Also, these interventions showed varying degrees of effectiveness in alleviating psychosocial and emotional distresses.

By summarizing five types of cognitive intervention contents delivered via web technology, this review demonstrated that web-based cognitive interventions optimized SCI and overall psychosocial and emotional statuses for the cancer survivors. It is recommended that future research focus on the development of customized web-based cognitive interventions for individuals with SCI, along with their psychosocial and emotional statuses.