Religious Coping, Practices, and Community Involvement in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer.

Background: Psychosocial well-being remains a significant unmet need among head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors in the United States, with limited understanding of the role of faith-based communities and religious coping in addressing social isolation.

Methods: HNC patients not actively undergoing treatment were recruited to complete validated surveys assessing physical and psychological symptoms, religious participation, and coping.

Results: 52 patients completed surveys, of which most had early-stage cancer (61.5%). The majority of participants reported clinically significant pain (52.0%) or fatigue (53.1%). Nearly half of participants reported regular religious or spiritual involvement, with 60.5% attending services at least a few times per year and 48.9% engaging in private practices like prayer or meditation weekly. Negative religious coping was not significantly associated with distress (odds ratio: 1.17, 95% confidence interval: 1.00-1.37, p = 0.06), though this association approached significance.

Conclusions: These findings suggest a need for further research on integrating spiritual support into HNC survivorship care.