[Changing trend over time of psychological states and quality of life of oral cancer patients with surgery].

Abstract

This study examines the psychological states and QOL in oral cancer patients during the perioperative and postoperative survival periods. Those patients who were scheduled for and had undergone primary surgery at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Section, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan were selected for this study. They took two different kinds of tests, i. e. the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Japanese-language version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Head and Neck (FACT-H & N) version 4. In a longitudinal study, interval assessments were done at one day before surgery, one week after surgery and one month and six months each after being discharged from the hospital, respectively. In a cross-sectional study, outpatients during the postoperative follow-up periods were evaluated. Statistically, before surgery psychological anxiety became highest, while after surgery depression grew and QOL in the somatic and specific domains decreased. After discharge from the hospital, the patients with longer-term postoperative survival had better psychological states and QOL. These results provide important information regarding psychological states and QOL in oral cancer patients for caring and supporting based on perioperative and postoperative periods.