Evidence for interventions to improve psychological outcomes in people with head and neck cancer: a systematic review of the literature

Abstract

Research to date suggests it is feasible to recruit people with HNC to psychological interventions and to evaluate their progress through repeated-outcome measures. Evidence for interventions is limited by the small number of studies, methodological problems, and poor comparability. Future interventions should target HNC patients who screen positive for clinical distress and be integrated into standard care.

Illness perceptions and coping predict post-traumatic stress in caregivers of patients with head and neck cancer

“…Psychological interventions that are designed to improve caregiver distress and illness perceptions and reduce the use of maladaptive coping strategies at diagnosis may help to reduce rates of caregiver PTSD. While few studies have tested psychological interventions for individuals affected by HNC, available evidence suggests that they have potential to reduce patient distress [43], including symptoms of PTSD [44]. Our findings suggest that it is important to include HNC caregivers in psychological interventions, a technique that has proven effective in other patient groups [18].…”

Appearance concerns and psychosocial adjustment following head and neck cancer: A cross-sectional study and nine-month follow-up

“…Evidence for psychological interventions with this population is limited (Luckett, Briton, Clover, & Rankin, 2011) and this study demonstrates that there is a clinical need. Further exploration of psychosocial factors which explain variation in individual appearance-related adjustment following HNC could aid in the development of effective psychological interventions.…”

Psychological support needs of patients with head and neck cancer and their caregivers: A qualitative study

“…Although the physical and psychological effects of HNC have been well documented (Lang, France, Williams, Humphris, & Wells, 2013), few high-quality studies have investigated ways to best manage these effects with psychological interventions (Luckett, Britton, Clover, & Rankin, 2011;Semple, Sullivan, Dunwoody, & Kernohan, 2004). A recent review concluded that shortcomings in the design and reporting of psychological interventions for HNC prevent reliable conclusions regarding intervention effectiveness (Semple et al, 2013).…”