Posttraumatic growth and its association with unmet supportive care needs and fear of cancer progression among head and neck cancer patients

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 17; no. 3; p. e0265502
• Main Authors: Nik Jaafar, Nik Ruzyanei, Hamdan, Nur Amirah, Abd Hamid, Norhaliza, Rajandram, Rama Krsna, Mahadevan, Raynuha, Zakaria, Hazli, Mohamad Yunus, Mohd Razif, Leong Bin Abdullah, Mohammad Farris Iman
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 15.03.2022; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Anxiety disorders; Biology and Life Sciences; Cancer; Development and progression; Diagnosis; Fear; Fear - psychology; Head & neck cancer; Head and neck cancer; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Health aspects; Health Services Needs and Demand; Humans; Intervention; Life; Medical diagnosis; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental disorders; Otolaryngology; Patients; Post-traumatic growth; Posttraumatic Growth, Psychological; Psychiatry; Psychological aspects; Psychological factors; Psychology; Quality of life; Questionnaires; Social Sciences; Surveys and Questionnaires; Malaysia; Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265502

The assessment of supportive care needs and fear of cancer progression are important variables to be considered when evaluating the psychological aspects of cancer patients. However, data on how these variables affect posttraumatic growth (PTG) are lacking. This study aimed to investigate the level of PTG among head and neck cancer (HNC) patients within the first year of cancer diagnosis and to determine the association between unmet supportive care needs, fear of cancer progression, and the level of PTG. Participants were administered socio-demographic and clinical characteristics questionnaire; the 34-item Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-34) to measure the unmet needs; 12-item Fear of Progression Questionnaire-Short Form (FoP-Q-SF) to measure the fear of progression of cancer; and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form (PTGI-SF) to measure the degree of PTG. A total of 190 HNC participants reported a mean total PTGI-SF score of 39.3 (standard deviation = 9.5). General linear model revealed that higher degree of patients' physical and daily living unmet needs and fear of cancer progression significantly predicted lower PTG, after controlling for sociodemographic and clinical factors. HNC patients within the first year of cancer diagnosis reported a high level of PTG. Despite that, psychosocial intervention for HNC patients should emphasize on counteracting patients' physical and daily living unmet needs and fear of cancer progression to improve the psychological well-being of patients.