QOL-11. C-SMART: Supporting Patients and Caregivers Through a Novel Cognitive Rehabilitation and Mindfulness Intervention

Abstract OBJECTIVE Cognitive deficits are common in adults with primary brain tumor– negatively impacting quality of life for patients and their caregivers. Newly developed telehealth C-SMART is a mindfulness-based cognitive rehabilitation intervention for patients with brain tumor that involves caregivers throughout. Phase I feasibility and acceptability results are presented. METHODS In this NIH ORBIT Model Phase I trial, adult patients with primary brain tumors and mild cognitive deficits (≥1.5 SD below the normative mean or estimated intelligence on ≥1 neurocognitive domain) participated in 6-8 weekly C-SMART. Patients were offered the opportunity to enroll a caregiver. Benchmarks for feasibility were: >50% eligibility rate, ≥80% enrollment rate, >70% retention rate and acceptability were: participant benefit and recommendation ratings >75%. RESULTS Twenty-six of 40 (65%) interested patients completed pre-screening. Twenty-three were eligible (88% eligibility rate) and 20 enrolled (87% enrollment rate). Of those, 18 completed baseline testing (90%). Fourteen enrolled with a caregiver (78%). One patient remains on trial. All 17 patients who finished C-SMART and 13 caregivers completed post-assessment (100% and 93% retention rate). Two patients completed C-SMART in 6 sessions, most completing in 8 (88%), and six requested booster sessions. Thirteen caregivers (93%) attended ≥1 C-SMART session, with 9 caregivers (64%) attending ≥6 sessions. Of those who completed post-assessment, 97% reported benefit and 100% would recommend to others. Nearly all patients did not recommend changes to C-SMART (94%); and 67% of caregivers did, most suggesting longer program duration (n=7). CONCLUSION C-SMART is the first mindfulness-based cognitive rehabilitation intervention tailored to individual deficits, designed for patients with brain tumors and caregiver involvement. Results support feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. Caregiver involvement was robust, with reported benefit. Full qualitative and quantitative data will be presented, including description of caregiver involvement. These data will inform the future Phase II randomized-controlled trial.