Research topic/aim

In Sweden, about 100 children per year are diagnosed with a brain tumor. This group of children are at very high risk of experiencing neurocognitive, physical and psychosocial late effects that can all negatively affect school performance. Yet, our studies are the first larger register studies in Sweden that explore school performance for children treated for a brain tumor, in terms of grades from last year in compulsory school, year nine. In the first, now published study (Lönnerblad, van’t Hooft, Blomgren, & Berglund, 2019), we explored the final grades in the subjects Swedish, Mathematics and English, qualification for upper secondary school (school year 10-12) and if they had a delayed graduation. In the second, on-going study (Lönnerblad, van’t Hooft, Blomgren & Berglund, in progress) we explore the final grades in the practical and aesthetical subjects (PRAEST subjects) Home and consumer studies, Physical education and health, Art, Crafts and Music.

Theoretical framework

The studies were performed within an epidemiological framework using register data, and we compared the grades of children in the study-group to non-affected controls. Effects of sex, age when diagnosed and whether the children had been treated for high- or low-grade tumours were analysed.

Methodology/research design

The nationwide population-based studies with data from the Swedish Childhood Cancer Registry and Statistics Sweden, included 475 children born between 1988 and 1996 and diagnosed with a brain tumour before their 15^th birthday. We compared their grades with 2,197 controls, matched by age, sex and place of living.

Expected results/findings

Lönnerblad et al (2019) showed that only 77.3% of the children treated for a brain tumour qualified for upper secondary school compared to 90.6% in the control group, and 11.4% repeated a grade or started school one year later than expected compared to 2.3% of the controls. Children treated for a brain tumor failed a subject more often and had lower average grades than controls. Female survivors diagnosed at a young age were found to be at particular risk for school failure, yet there were no significant differences between children treated for high- or low-grade tumours. We will present similar analyses for the PREST subjects.

Relevance to Nordic educational research

Comparable registry studies have been performed in Finland and Denmark, but not in Sweden, and in particular, data about the PREST subjects are lacking. Children previously diagnosed with brain tumours are mostly included in Swedish mainstream schools, thus more and broader information about their strength and difficulties is needed to design adequate support. Larger nationwide, population based registry studies can contribute to this knowledge.