Shame and Stigma Over Long-Term Survival in Postoperative Cases of Head and Neck Cancer.

Autor: Goyal AK; Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, 160012 India., Bakshi J; Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, 160012 India., Panda NK; Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, 160012 India., Kapoor R; Department of Radiation Oncology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India., Vir D; Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, 160012 India., Kumar K; Department of Psychiatry, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India., Aneja P; Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of maxillofacial and oral surgery [J Maxillofac Oral Surg] 2024 Oct; Vol. 23 (5), pp. 1057-1062. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 May 14.
DOI: 10.1007/s12663-023-01931-6
Abstrakt: Background: Surgical excision of the tumor remains the primary choice for the treatment of head and neck cancer patients, but it often leads to facial disfigurement, which further causes mutilation in the patients. Mutilation causes shame and stigma, which imparts significant psychological strain on patients, and tends to impair their quality of life.
Objective: The present study aimed to assess the shame and stigma over long-term postoperative survival duration in head and neck cancer patients.
Methodology: Total 100 postoperative patients of head and neck cancer were recruited from the outpatient department of the host institute, and shame and stigma was assessed using the Hindi version of the shame and stigma scale.
Results: The global shame and stigma score was 22.67 ± 16.22, with the highest perceived stigma due to changes in appearance (11.94 ± 8.805), followed by impaired speech (4.490 ± 3.243), feeling of regret (3.950 ± 3.313), and feeling of stigma (4.490 ± 3.243). The shame and stigma was found to be significantly higher in maxillary cancer patients (33.22 ± 16.60), followed by larynx cancer patients (22.06 ± 13.41) and oral cancer patients (21.53 ± 16.49). Patients with stage III and stage IV of cancer were found to perceive higher shame and stigma (35.91 ± 22.23 and 27.36 ± 14.71, respectively) compared to the patients having stage I and stage II cancer (9.583 ± 9.709 and 16.44 ± 11.82, respectively). A significantly declining linear trend was found between shame and stigma and postoperative survival duration.
Conclusion: We concluded that shame and stigma act as important determinants of quality of life over long-term survival in head and neck cancer patients, and should be considered while designing psychological interventions and surgical reconstruction protocols. The present study will help clinicians to assess the mutilation among head and neck cancer patients in a better way and will help in devising new psychological strategies to manage psychological aspects associated with mutilation, which will ultimately enhance the quality of life of patients.
Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(© The Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons of India 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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