Post-traumatic stress in head and neck cancer survivors and their partners

• Published in: Supportive care in cancer 2018-09, Vol.26 (9), p.3003-3011
• Main Authors: Moschopoulou, Elisavet, Hutchison, Iain, Bhui, Kamaldeep, Korszun, Ania
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Anxiety; Cancer Survivors - psychology; Caregivers; Couples; Female; Head & neck cancer; Head and Neck Neoplasms - complications; Head and Neck Neoplasms - pathology; Head and Neck Neoplasms - psychology; Humans; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental depression; Nursing; Nursing Research; Oncology; Original Article; Pain Medicine; Personal relationships; Post traumatic stress disorder; Quality of life; Quality of Life - psychology; Rehabilitation Medicine; Social support; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - etiology; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - pathology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Survivor
• ISSN: 0941-4355; 1433-7339
• DOI: 10.1007/s00520-018-4146-9

Purpose Head and neck cancer (HNC) diagnosis and treatment are distressing and have immediate detrimental impacts on functioning and quality of life (QoL). Nevertheless, little is known about long-term psychosocial effects. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and correlates of clinical post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and subclinical post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in HNC patients surviving more than 2 years since treatment and in their partners. Methods HNC survivors identified from the cancer registry of a London hospital and their partners completed measures of PTSS, depression and anxiety, fear of cancer recurrence, social support, appearance concerns and health-related QoL. Data regarding their clinical and demographic characteristics were also collected. Correlations, as well as linear and logistic regression coefficients, were calculated to estimate associations with PTSS scores. Results In this analysis of 93 HNC survivors, at a mean of 6 years (SD = 4) after treatment, 33.4% reported PTSS and 11.8% met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fear of cancer recurrence was independently associated with PTSS ( p   .05). Conclusions This is the first examination of post-traumatic stress in survivors of HNC and shows that high levels of cancer-related PTSS exist for many years after diagnosis in both patients and their partners.