Psychological distress in relation to quality of life and pain beliefs in head and neck cancer patients

Pages: 548-552
Laxmi Shekhawat and Pererna Puri nee Kumar (Department of Psychology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, Rajasthan)

High levels of psychological distress are a concern regarding patients with head and neck cancer. Early detection and intervention for such distress are needed to predict patients’ adaptation to treatment or rehabilitation, but few studies have investigated the detection of their distress in a patient population of significant size. In cancer patients, pain is said to be one of the most feared and distressing symptoms and one that disrupts all aspects of life. The purposes of this study were: 1) to assess the psychological distress, quality of life and pain belief in head and neck cancer patients 2) to determine the relationships among psychological distress ,quality of life and pain belief in head and neck cancer patients. A purposive sample of head and neck cancer patients attending to large Cancer Hospital in Jaipur (Rajasthan) were taken for the present study. Three standard instruments were used to measure quality of life (FACIT H&N), depression and Anxiety (the HADS) and pain beliefs (the PBPI). A total of 148 head and neck cancer patients, participated in the study. The main findings of this study were that cancer patients with pain reported significantly lower levels of role functioning, emotional functioning and global quality of life. A higher level of depression was found in head and neck cancer patients. Among patients with pain, higher scores on self blame, pain belief and pain consistency belief were positively and significantly associated with higher depression. This study has demonstrated the effect of psychological distress on patients’ quality of life and emotional status and pain beliefs and has supported the multidimensional notion of the cancer pain experience in cancer patients. Although these data are correlational, they provide additional support for a biopsychosocial model of chronic pain.