Prevalence of Pain and Associated Clinical Characteristics in 10-Year Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer.

Objective: Pain prevalence in long-term head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors is important but understudied to date. The present investigation examined pain prevalence, associated clinical characteristics, and disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a cohort of survivors 10 years postdiagnosis (N = 187).

Study design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Single-institution tertiary care center.

Methods: Pain was assessed using a single-item numeric rating scale. Clinical characteristics were abstracted from the patient medical record and HNC-specific HRQOL scores were measured using the Head and Neck Cancer Inventory (HNCI) and are presented by the pain subgroup.

Results: At 10 years postdiagnosis, 56.7% reported no pain, 20.3% reported mild pain, 16.0% reported moderate pain, and 7.0% reported severe pain. Most patients with moderate or severe pain at the 10-year follow-up assessment also had advanced-stage disease at diagnosis. Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that advanced-stage disease at diagnosis was a significant predictor of pain at 10 years postdiagnosis controlling for age, sex, and comorbidity status (β = .184, t = 2.193, P = .030, sr² = 0.025). Across all HNC-specific HRQOL domains, those reporting moderate/severe pain at 10 years postdiagnosis failed to reach a score of 70 which is indicative of high functioning on the HNCI in the areas of aesthetics, eating, speech, and social disruption.

Conclusion: Pain is a significant issue in long-term HNC survivors up to 10 years postdiagnosis. More research is needed to understand the correlates and types of long-term pain exhibited after treatment, including the implementation of screening and intervention into clinical workflow to improve outcomes and optimize HNC survivorship care.