Exploring the Experiences of Patients with Head and Neck Cancer
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the Experience of Making Decisions about Surgery by Patients with Head and Neck Cancer
IRAS ID
252677
Contact name
Leah Jesnick
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Surrey
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 30 days
Research summary
This study will investigate the experience of treatment planning for patients who have been diagnosed with Head and neck cancer (HNC). For many of these patients, clinicians will advise that they should undergo surgery in order to improve their prognosis. However a number of patients decide against surgery, knowing that this will affect their chances of survival. The reasons for this are hypothesised to be outcomes of surgery which would affect their quality of life and psychological wellbeing. Indeed surgery for HNC frequently causes a number of functional impairments for patients. These include impairments in swallowing, speech and breathing. Research has suggested that psychological wellbeing of patients post-operatively is adversely affected by these functional impairments and the image disturbance that may result from surgery.
The current project aims to explore the experiences of patients who have made decisions about having surgery for HNC, and to understand which factors affected their decision. It may be the case that these hypothesised factors are mentioned by patients, or that new information emerges. Patients will also be asked about their psychological needs during this time, and whether these were met by services. It is hoped that information regarding this process will the implementation of better support for future patients undergoing this decision.REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/2076
Date of REC Opinion
17 Dec 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion