Social health at 5 years after diagnosis of head and neck cancer.

PURPOSE

Social health (SH) is an emerging key concept of quality of life in patients surviving head and neck cancer (HNC).This study aimed to assess SH deterioration five years after HNC diagnosis and associated factors.

METHODS

Using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses including 291 HNC survivors, we studied how different socio-demographic and clinical factors were associated with the deterioration of social health in the national epidemiological VICAN (Vie après le CANcer) Survey implemented in France. Eligible participants were aged from 18 to 82 years.

RESULTS

Impairment of sociability was observed in 44 % of survivors. About half of survivors with sociability altered had dysphonia (41.7 %) and did not eat solid food (45.6 %) 5 years after treatment. And much more had dental problems (58.9 %), saliva problems (71.0 %), anxiety (64.1 %) and pain (85.9 %). Factors significantly associated with impaired sociability were tiredness (p < 0.001), dysphonia (p = 0.029), depression (p = 0.002) and anxiety (p = 0.024) remained significantly associated, after multivariate analysis, with decreased of sociability.

CONCLUSIONS

Five years after the diagnosis of HNC, a decrease in sociability is common, with a significant impact on quality of life for almost half of survivors.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS

In the same way as prehabilitation is part of pretherapeutic care, systematic post-treatment assessment using validated patient reported tools must be carried out, including a search for late complications, such as anxiety or depression, sleep disorders, pain and dysphonia.