Psychological status in Head and Neck Cancer Patients with Xerostomia due to Radiotherapy

Psychological status is one of the quality of life (QOL) domains which can be affected by hyposalivation caused by head and neck radiotherapy. This study aimed to evaluate the psychological status of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients who were suffering from hyposalivation after at least one week of receiving radiotherapy.

This descriptive-analytic study was performed on 44 HNC patients with history of hyposalivation caused by radiotherapy, in 5 Azar hospital from 1397-1398. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used for data collection. Shapiro-Wilk test, parametric and nonparametric tests and SPSS 18 software were used for statistical analysis.

The average psychological status of patients was 27.50 out of 84 (lower score indicated better psychological status). The mean score of physical health was 7.39, social functioning was 6.16, anxiety/insomnia were 12.64 and depression was 1.33 with the maximum being 21. Psychological status was not significantly different between genders. Ageing caused all subscales to increase except depression. A direct relationship between social functionality and psychological status was reported.

Hyposalivation due to radiotherapy affects psychological status and its components in patients. Also, various factors such as ageing and lower education level can be effective in reducing psychological status in the patients with head and neck cancer who were suffering from hyposalivation due to receiving radiotherapy.