Study of Anxiety and Avoidance of Others in Patients Previously Treated for Head and Neck Cancer
Condition: Anxiety Disorder; Head and Neck Cancer; Lung Cancer
MeSH terms: Lung Neoplasms; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Anxiety Disorders
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      RATIONALE: Patients who undergo treatment for head and neck cancer may become anxious and
      avoid contact with other people. Learning how cancer treatment may cause anxiety in patients
      with head and neck cancer may help improve the quality of life in these patients.

      PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying anxiety and avoidance of others in patients
      previously treated for head and neck cancer.
    

Detailed description: 
      OBJECTIVES:

        -  Determine the relationship between treatment-provoked social anxiety and avoidance in
           patients previously treated for head and neck cancer.

        -  Determine the relationship between pre-cancer psychiatric diagnosis and post-treatment
           social anxiety and avoidance in these patients.

        -  Determine the effect of social anxiety and/or avoidance on the quality of life of these
           patients.

        -  Investigate the specificity of these relationships in patients with head and neck cancer
           by comparing patients with head and neck cancer to patients with lung cancer.

      OUTLINE: This is a cross-sectional study. Patients are stratified according to prior
      treatment type (significantly impairing [surgery] vs less impairing
      [chemotherapy/radiotherapy]).

      Patients undergo a face-to-face interview with a mental health clinician over 2 hours.
      Patients complete multiple psychiatric/psychological assessments during the interview,
      including the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID); the Liebowitz Social Anxiety
      Scale (SAS); the Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck Cancer Patients (PSS-HN); the
      Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI); the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI);
      Response to Stress Questionnaire, Cancer Version (RSQ-CV); the Functional Assessment of
      Cancer Therapy (FACT-HNC (head neck cancer) or LC); the Voice Handicap Index (VHI); and the
      Body Image Scale (BIS).

      Cancer treatment and medical history information are gathered from patients' medical records.
    

Intervention name(s): Medical chart review; Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale and the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory; management of therapy complications; Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV SCID; Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G)
Intervention type(s): Other; Other; Procedure; Procedure; Other
Intervention description(s): medical chart review; survey administration; management of therapy complications; psychosocial assessment; survey administration
Other intervention name(s): survey administration; psychosocial assessment
Observational model: Case-Control
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Probability Sample
Study population: 
        People who have been treated for head and neck cancer.
      
Keywords: anxiety disorder; long-term effects secondary to cancer therapy in adults; head and neck cancer; non-small cell lung cancer; small cell lung cancer