Course of social support and associations with distress after partial laryngectomy.

PURPOSE: Social support has been shown to be positively associated with quality of life and adjustment after a cancer diagnosis. The present study investigates the course of social support up to one year after partial laryngectomy and its association with distress. DESIGN: Longitudinal questionnaire study. SAMPLE: A total of 428 patients after partial laryngectomy (mean age: 64, SD = 11, 91% male). METHODS: Patients completed questionnaires before treatment (t1), one week after a partial laryngectomy (t2), 3 months (t3), and one year (t4) thereafter. Social support was evaluated at t2, t3, and t4 using a brief version of the Social Support Questionnaire. Distress was measured at t2, t3, and t4 using the HADS. Descriptive statistics for social support were computed across the three measurement points. Changes were analyzed by Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Associations with distress were identified using linear regression analyses. FINDINGS: Social support increased between t2 and t3 and decreased to baseline level between t3 and t4. Distress at t2 was associated with social support at t2 (B = -0.15, p < 0.01) and distress at t3 with social support at t3 (B = -0.19, p < 0.01). Distress at t4 was related to social support at t2 (B = -0.10, p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Although perceived social support increases after partial laryngectomy, it decreases again during the course of aftercare. IMPLICATIONS FOR PSYCHOSOCIAL PROVIDERS OR POLICY: Social support resources should be assessed to identify patients at risk for worse psychological well-being.

[Smoking Behaviour after Partial Resection of the Larynx: The Role of Causal Attribution]. / Rauchverhalten von Krebspatienten nach Kehlkopfteilresektion: Welche Bedeutung hat die Kausalattribution?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to examine how different causal attributions in patients with laryngeal cancer are associated with smoking behaviours (smoking cessation rates and amount of cigarettes per day) after partial resection of the larynx. METHODS: Multicentre prospective cohort study including 4 interviews: between diagnosis and partial resection of larynx (t1), one week (t2), 3 months (t3) and 12 months (t4) after surgery. Presented in this study are t1 and t4. A total of 134 patients (mean age 62 years, 93% male) were interviewed at t1 and t4 between 2007 and 2013. Key items were causal attribution as well as previous and current smoking behaviour. Patients were grouped according to the subjectively stated causal attribution. Results were analysed descriptively and group as well as mean value comparisons were conducted. RESULTS: Smoking was the most commonly stated causal attribution (43.3%). The quantity of cigarettes decreased significantly by about 6 cigarettes from 17 (range 3-40) to 11 (range 2-30) cigarettes per day in this group (p=0.001). 25% of patients did not recognize a reason for their illness. In longitudinal analyses of all groups of different causal attributions, there was a non-significant decrease in the percentage of smokers. CONCLUSION: We show that causal attribution does not affect smoking cessation rate significantly in a positive way. But active smokers after PRL reduce their quantity of cigarettes per day significantly. This impact is more noticeable in patients who were able to define a causal attribution. Psycho-oncological care, information services and smoking cessation programs could contribute to this effect by making the causal attribution a subject of discussion.

Cardiac comorbidity in head and neck cancer patients and its influence on cancer treatment selection and mortality: a prospective cohort study.

Comorbidity assessment and a profound cardiac examination were implemented into pre-treatment diagnostics to analyze their influence on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) therapy selection and short-term mortality. Comorbidity was measured prospectively in 49 HNSCC patients using standard indices between 2012 and 2013. Cardiac examinations included electrocardiogram, echocardiography, and bicycle ergometry. Most patients had stage IV tumors (61 %), smoked (61 %), and showed alcohol abuse (57 %); 38 patients (78 %) received a multimodal therapy; 65 % had an adult comorbidity evaluation 27 index ≥2, 59 % a Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) ≥4, and 12 % a revised cardiac risk index (RCRI) ≥2. Additional cardiac examinations revealed moderate to severe cardiovascular pathologies in 32 % of the patients and led to recommendations for additional therapy in 4 patients (8 %) necessary only after cancer treatment. RCRI was associated with CCI and cardiac examinations (p = 0.009, p = 0.030). Chemotherapy, stroke history, and RCRI ≥2 were risk factors for early mortality within first 2 years after cancer therapy (p = 0.037; p = 0.012; p = 0.015). Although one-third of a strongly smoking and drinking patient cohort had relevant cardiac morbidity, extended unselected cardiac diagnostics had only low impact on HNSCC therapy selection. The risk of early mortality after HNSCC cancer treatment seems to be sufficiently reflected by the RCRI.

Motivation as a predictor of speech intelligibility after total laryngectomy.

BACKGROUND: It has often been argued that if patients' success with speech rehabilitation after laryngectomy is limited, it is the result of lacking motivation on their part. This project investigated the role of motivation in speech rehabilitation. METHODS: In a multicenter prospective cohort study, 141 laryngectomees were interviewed at the beginning of rehabilitation and 1 year after laryngectomy. Speech intelligibility was measured with a standardized test, and patients self-assessed their own motivation shortly after the surgery. Logistic regression, adjusted for several theory-based confounding factors, was used to assess the impact of motivation on speech intelligibility. RESULTS: Speech intelligibility 1 year after laryngectomy was not significantly associated with the level of motivation at the beginning of rehabilitation (odds ratio [OR], 1.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.7-2.3; p = .43) after adjusting for the effect of potential confounders (implantation of a voice prosthesis, patient's cognitive abilities, frustration tolerance, physical functioning, and type of rehabilitation). CONCLUSIONS: Motivation is not a strong predictor of speech intelligibility 1 year after laryngectomy.

Speech rehabilitation during the first year after total laryngectomy.

BACKGROUND: Gaining a new voice is one of the major aims after total laryngectomy. The objective of this study was to describe the process and results of speech rehabilitation during the first year after surgery. METHODS: Speech intelligibility was measured 6 months (n = 273) and 1 year (n = 225) after total laryngectomy. RESULTS: Objective (23.4 to 47.5 points, p < .0001) and subjective (51.6 to 64.7 points, p < .0001) speech intelligibility improved between 6 months and 1 year after total laryngectomy. Patients who used tracheoesophageal puncture (TEP) had the best results in speech intelligibility 6 months and 1 year after total laryngectomy. In all, 12% of the patients who used TEP initially no longer used it 1 year later. Patients who had received rehabilitation had better objective speech intelligibility than those who did not. CONCLUSIONS: Speech improves considerably between 6 months and 1 year after total laryngectomy. Nonattendance of rehabilitation is associated with a worse functional outcome in speech rehabilitation.