Social Anxiety and Avoidance in Head and Neck Cancer Patients
Social Anxiety and Avoidance in Head and Neck Cancer Patients
RATIONALE: Patients who undergo treatment for head and neck cancer may become anxious and avoid contact with other people. Learning how cancer treatment may cause anxiety in patients with head and neck cancer may help improve the quality of life in these patients.
PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying anxiety and avoidance of others in patients previously treated for head and neck cancer.
OBJECTIVES:
OUTLINE: This is a cross-sectional study. Patients are stratified according to prior treatment type (significantly impairing [surgery] vs less impairing [chemotherapy/radiotherapy]).
Patients undergo a face-to-face interview with a mental health clinician over 2 hours. Patients complete multiple psychiatric/psychological assessments during the interview, including the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID); the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (SAS); the Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck Cancer Patients (PSS-HN); the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI); the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI); Response to Stress Questionnaire, Cancer Version (RSQ-CV); the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT-HNC (head neck cancer) or LC); the Voice Handicap Index (VHI); and the Body Image Scale (BIS).
Cancer treatment and medical history information are gathered from patients' medical records.
PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
Diagnosis of 1 of the following:
Must have received treatment for head and neck cancer or lung cancer within the past 5 years
PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: