Clinical trial · Interventional
Emotional Freedom Techniques to Reduce Patient Reported Cognitive Complaints in Cancer Survivors
A Randomized Wait-list Controlled Trial on the Use of Emotional Freedom Techniques as an Intervention Strategy to Reduce Patient Reported Cognitive Complaints in Cancer Survivors on Behalf of the Belgian Society for Medical Oncology (BSMO)-Cancer Survivorship Taskforce
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
The aim of this study is to further validate the CDT as a screening tool for identifying elderly cancer patients in need of a more in-depth cognitive evaluation within comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) and to validate the pre-defined cut-off score of ≤ 4 according to the Freund scoring system. All geriatric patients that are diagnosed with cancer will be screened by the oncology clinical nurse specialists attached to the respective multi-disciplinary clinics with the VES-13 and G8 questionnaire. Patients that screen positive, will be offered referral to the multi-disciplinary onco-geriatric program where a member of the research team will implement a full geriatric evaluation under supervision of the medical oncologist and/or geriatrician who will then formulate recommendations and might suggest referral to other health care providers. Individual results and survival data of all the patients that have given their informed consent will be registered in a database.
Conditions
Conditions (2)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Subjective Cognitive Complaints | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emotional Freedom Techniques | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Intervention group
- description
- Patients assigned to intervention group receive an 8-week EFT-program
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Emotional Freedom Techniques
- type
- NO_INTERVENTION
- label
- Control group
- description
- Patients assigned to control group are placed on a waitlist for a period of 8 weeks
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Change in cognitive complaints measured by Cognitive Failure Questionnaire
- timeFrame
- Week 8, 16, 24
- description
- Score of \<43 on the Cognitive Failure Questionnaire ; Minimum value: 0; Maximum value: 100; Higher scores mean worse outcome
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients should have reached a minimum age of 18 years at the time of enrolment * Histologically confirmed diagnosis of a solid cancer or hematologic malignancy * Patients should have received chemo- or radiotherapy, targeted therapy of hormonal treatment before enrollment (active treatment with anti-hormonal therapy or brachytherapy is allowed) * Patients can be included in the latest phase of their chemotherapy, radiotherapy, anti-hormonal or targeted therapy treatment * Patients should have been treated with curative intent or have an expected life expectancy of at least 5 years * Patients must suffer from subjective cognitive complaints based on the Cognitive Failure Questionnaire (cut-off ≥ 43) * Patients should be able to adequately communicate in Dutch or French * Patients should present with a sufficient mental and physical functional status (according to investigator's judgment) Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who received a treatment with palliative intent * Patients showing signs of mental deterioration * Patients suffering from an organic brain syndrome * Patients who are alcohol or drug dependent * Patients with a major psychiatric or neurologic disorder that could potentially invalidate assessment; a prior or current diagnosis of a depressive, anxiety or adjustment disorder is allowed
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDTack L, Lefebvre T, Lycke M, Langenaeken C, Fontaine C, Borms M, Hanssens M, Knops C, Meryck K, Boterberg T, Pottel H, Schofield P, Debruyne PR. A randomised wait-list controlled trial to evaluate Emotional Freedom Techniques for self-reported cancer-related cognitive impairment in cancer survivors (EMOTICON). EClinicalMedicine. 2021 Aug 19;39:101081. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101081. eCollection 2021 Sep. PMID 34466793