Publication

Abstract : Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) and its treatment have a huge impact on all aspects of patients’ quality of life (QOL) and their life satisfaction. QOL involves an individual’s subjective assessment of the impact of an illness or treatment on his/her physical, psychological, social, and somatic functioning and general wellbeing. Life satisfaction is defined as the global assessment of a person’s QOL according to his/her chosen criteria. Objective: We aimed to evaluate and correlate the QOL and life satisfaction in HNC patients who had undergone surgical treatment. Materials and Methods: A total of 60 HNC patients with a follow-up duration of 6 months to 1 year after surgery took part in our prospective study. The patients’ answers pertaining to QOL given in the questionnaire were collected for the EORTC Head and Neck questionnaire (QOL-H & N35), and then all the points were added to a value ranging between 30 and 240. The questionnaire was translated using validated methods. Clinical stage and mode of surgical treatment applied, with or without post-operative radiation therapy, were chosen to evaluate their effect on the QOL. Certain social factors were also chosen to evaluate their effect on QOL and life satisfaction. Moreover, the effects of age and gender were also studied. Results: The statistical analysis of the findings showed a strong correlation between their QOL and life satisfaction (r = − 0.831, P = < 0.001). Spearman’s Rho formula indicates a strong relationship between QOL and life satisfaction. Conclusion: After evaluation, this study proposes that there is a strong correlation between the QOL and life satisfaction in HNC patients who were treated surgically.