[Problems and disabilities resulting from tumors of the central nervous system]

100 patients of the neurological clinic of the University of Cologne affected by tumors of the brain or spinal cord, had been interviewed according to a catalogue of disabilities developed on the lines of the WHO classification of impairments, disabilities, and handicaps. Two months later, 55 patients who had had a previous disease history of less than 12 months, again reported on the course of their disease and the difficulties they experienced. Most of them in their middle years, the patients studied were disabled to very different degrees, the majority of them experiencing greater or lesser limitations in almost all areas of life. The occurrence of individual disabilities, above all visual impairments, personal care disabilities, of locomotion, manual activity, and disorders of balance, was found to be dependent on patient age and tumor diagnosis, whereas disease duration appeared to have little impact.