PURPOSE: The current study aimed to (1) examine the sociodemographic, clinical and psychological factors related to subjective cognitive functioning (SCF); (2) analyze the complex mutual interconnections between SCFs; and (3) address patients' perspectives on SCF and supportive care. METHOD: A heterogeneous sample of oncological patients (N = 566) was recruited.Items inquiring about the senses, attention, memory, spatial functions, decision-making and speech were administered. A network of subjectively perceived changes in cognitive functions was estimated while three open-ended questions addressed patients' perspectives on SCF. RESULTS: Within the network, deficits in spatial perception, attention focus and problem-solving ability had the highest strength index while the deficits related to the senses were the least influential. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that psychological-based interventions focused on higher cognitive functions could improve patients' quality of life. The presence of supportive care and available information could strengthen SCF intervention and prevention for patients with cancer.

Department of Educational Psychology and Psychology of Health Faculty of Arts Pavol Jozef Šafárik University Košice Slovakia

Department of Psychology Faculty of Arts University of Trnava Trnava Slovakia

Faculty of Education Charles University Prague Czechia

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä Finland

Institute of Social Sciences Centre of Social nad Psychological Sciences SAS Košice Slovakia

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