Clinic of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
BMC Cancer. 2021 Jan 22;21(1):94. doi: 10.1186/s12885-020-07773-6.
Treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) often leads to visible and severe functional impairments. In addition, patients often suffer from a variety of psychosocial problems, significantly associated with a decreased quality of life. We aimed to compare depression, anxiety, fatigue and quality of life (QoL) between HNC patients and a large sample of the general population in Germany and to examine the impact of sociodemographic, behavioral and clinical factors on these symptoms.
We assessed data of HNC patients during the aftercare consultation at the Leipzig University Medical Center with a patient reported outcome (PRO) tool named "OncoFunction". Depression, anxiety, fatigue and QoL were assessed using validated outcome measures including the PHQ-9, the GAD-2, and the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire.
A total of 817 HNC patients were included in our study and compared to a sample of 5018 individuals of the general German population. HNC patients showed significantly higher levels of impairment in all dimensions assessed. Examination of association between depression, anxiety, fatigue and QoL and clinical as well as sociodemographic variables showed significant relationships between occupational status, ECOG-state, body mass index and time since diagnosis.
HNC patients suffer significantly from psychological distress. The used questionnaires are suitable for the use in daily routine practice and can be helpful to increase the detection of depression, anxiety and fatigue and therefore can improve HNC aftercare.
头颈部癌症（HNC）的治疗常常导致明显和严重的功能障碍。此外，患者通常会遭受各种心理社会问题，这与生活质量的下降显著相关。我们旨在比较 HNC 患者和德国大样本普通人群中的抑郁、焦虑、疲劳和生活质量（QoL），并研究社会人口统计学、行为和临床因素对这些症状的影响。
我们使用名为“OncoFunction”的患者报告结局（PRO）工具评估莱比锡大学医学中心随访咨询期间 HNC 患者的数据。使用经过验证的结局测量工具，包括 PHQ-9、GAD-2 和 EORTC QLQ-C30 问卷评估抑郁、焦虑、疲劳和 QoL。
共有 817 名 HNC 患者纳入本研究，并与一般德国人群的 5018 名个体样本进行比较。HNC 患者在所有评估维度上均表现出明显更高的损伤水平。对抑郁、焦虑、疲劳和 QoL 与临床和社会人口统计学变量之间的关联进行检查，发现职业状况、ECOG 状态、体重指数和诊断后时间之间存在显著关系。
HNC 患者遭受明显的心理困扰。使用的问卷适用于日常实践，可以帮助提高对抑郁、焦虑和疲劳的检出率，从而改善 HNC 的随访护理。
