BackgroundAs many as 95.7% of children diagnosed with a brain tumor will experience persistent late effects as adults. These include difficulties with general executive functions, lower IQ, and mental fatigue, which may negatively affect school performance.MethodsThrough the Swedish Childhood Cancer Registry, we identified 475 children born between 1988 and 1996, diagnosed with a brain tumor before their 15th birthday. School grades in “Swedish,” “mathematics,” and “English,” if their graduation was delayed, and qualification for school years 10‐12 were compared with 2197 matched controls. Furthermore, we checked for interaction effects between sex and age at diagnosis, and possible effects of tumor grade (high or low) as well as parents’ education.ResultsChildren treated for a brain tumor performed worse in the subjects compared to controls and also had delayed graduation to a greater extent. Fewer children treated for a brain tumor than controls qualified for school years 10‐12. Children treated at a young age, especially females, and children whose parents have low education seem to be at particular risk. Unexpectedly, there were no differences in outcomes between survivors with high‐ and low‐grade tumors.ConclusionsIt is important that schools provide regular pedagogical assessment and individualized support to meet the different needs of children treated for a brain tumor. Children treated for low‐grade tumors do not perform better than children treated for high‐grade tumors, despite the lighter treatment, and hence require the same attention and support.

AimThe aim of this study was to coordinate the structured psychosocial, neurocognitive and educational follow‐up of children treated for brain tumours with the medical protocol and apply the model in two Swedish healthcare regions.MethodsWe invited all children living in the two regions, who had been diagnosed with a brain tumour from October 1, 2010, through June 30, 2012, to participate along with their parents. The follow‐up programme evaluated the emotional status of the parents and patients and assessed the children's general cognitive level, working memory, speed of performance, executive functions and academic achievement from diagnosis through to adult care.ResultsDuring the study period, 61 children up to the age of 17.1 years were diagnosed with a brain tumour, but 18 of these were excluded for various reasons. The majority of the mothers (70%) displayed significantly poor emotional status, as did 34% of the fathers and 21% of the children. The majority of the children (57%) also showed poor neurocognitive performance and needed special adaptations at school (66%).ConclusionOur findings indicate the need for coordinated, multiprofessional follow‐up programmes, well anchored in the healthcare organisation, for children diagnosed with brain tumours

BackgroundChildren treated for brain tumour (hereafter termed paediatric brain tumour survivors (PBTS)) often need extra support in school because of late-appearing side effects after their treatment. We explored how this group of children perform in the five practical and aesthetic (PRAEST) subjects: home and consumer studies, physical education and health, art, crafts and music.MethodsIn this nationwide population-based study of data from the Swedish Childhood Cancer Registry and Statistics Sweden, we included 475 children born between 1988 and 1996, diagnosed with a brain tumour before their 15th birthday. We compared their grades in PRAEST subjects with those of 2197 matched controls. We also investigated if there were any differences between girls and boys, children diagnosed at different ages, and children with high-grade or low-grade tumours.ResultsThe odds for failing a subject were two to three times higher for girls treated for a brain tumour compared with their controls in all five PRAEST subjects, whereas there were no significant differences between the boys and their controls in any subject. PBTS had lower average grades from year 9 in all PRAEST subjects, and girls differed from their controls in all five subjects, while boys differed in physical education and health and music. PBTS treated for high-grade tumours neither did have significantly different average grades nor did they fail a subject to a significantly higher extent than PBTS treated for low-grade tumours.ConclusionsChildren treated for a brain tumour, especially girls, are at risk of lower average grades or failing PRAEST subjects. All children treated for brain tumour may need extra support as these subjects are important for their well-being and future skills.