Quality-of-life effects of psychosocial intervention in patients with head and neck cancer.

METHODS: Two studies of psychosocial interventions in head and neck cancer patients at different stages of their disease were performed. We explored the feasibility and effectiveness of different approaches, offered for the first time to this population. The first study concerned long-term group psychological therapy for patients with newly diagnosed head and neck cancer. Quality of life was measured longitudinally for 1 year and compared with that of a control group. The second study comprised a short-term psychoeducational program 1 year after treatment for head and neck cancer. Quality-of-life assessments were made repeatedly from diagnosis until 1 month after the intervention.
RESULTS: Thirteen patients started the psychological group therapy, and 8 of them completed both the intervention and evaluation procedure. The quality of life of the therapy group improved more than that of a control group in most areas measured during the study year, in particular psychiatric morbidity, social functioning, emotional functioning, and global quality of life. The results indicate benefits from the therapy, although the therapy group scored worse than the control group at diagnosis. Most of the variables representing functioning and symptoms improved after the 1-week psychoeducational program, especially items reflecting "trouble eating" and "problems enjoying your meals." Patients' judgments of the intervention quality indicated satisfaction with all separate elements, mostly education, about cancer and the opportunity to socialize with the other guests.
CONCLUSION: These pilot studies suggest that head and neck cancer patients can benefit from different psychosocial interventions. Quality-of-life questionnaires were well accepted and sensitive to changes during the studies. Thus our early findings seem promising and would justify confirmation in larger studies.