ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The objective of the review is to explore the evidence on the behavioral and psychological mechanisms underlying the development of obesity in patients with craniopharyngioma. The review will map the available evidence, identify gaps in the literature, and find avenues of future intervention. INTRODUCTION: Craniopharyngiomas are low-grade intracranial tumors of the supersellar region. Obesity is associated with the tumor or surgery or radiotherapy to treat the tumor; however, the behavioral and psychological processes contributing to that association are not clear. This review will provide a synthesized evidence base of the relevant research. INCLUSION CRITERIA: This review will consider published studies with all types of study designs, including patients with childhood- or adult-onset craniopharyngioma. Articles assessing factors that may impact eating behavior will be included based on the following categories: eating behavior, obesity, neuroimaging, endocrine response, energy expenditure, sleep, and neuropsychology. METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO will be searched, in addition to the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov, NICE evidence search, and International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN). No limits will be placed on the scope of the search. The methodology will follow a three-stage process with two independent reviewers at each stage, including an initial database search, screening of titles and abstracts of retrieved studies, full-text assessment for inclusion criteria, and hand-searching of reference lists. Data will be extracted using a standardized charting form and summarized in tables. The data will be synthesized using a narrative summary and diagrammatic map and will be based on the evidence for each of the proposed research categories.
