Supportive Care Needs Among Head and Neck Cancer Patients Prior to Oncologic Treatment: A Prospective, Nested Cross-Sectional Qualitative Analysis

Objectives: To qualitatively characterize pretreatment head and neck cancer (HNC) patients’ supportive care (SC) needs, attitudes toward SC, and barriers to SC utilization. Materials and Methods: A prospective, nested, bi-institutional, cross-sectional pilot study design was employed. Participants were sub-selected from a representative sample of 50 patients newly diagnosed with mucosal or salivary gland HNC or sarcoma of the head and neck. Eligibility criteria included reporting ≥2 unmet needs (according to the Supportive Care Needs Survey—Short Form 34) or clinically-significant distress (National Comprehensive Cancer Network Distress Thermometer score ≥4). Semi-structured interviews were performed prior to initiation of oncologic treatment. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and thematically analyzed using NVivo 12.0 (QSR Australia). Thematic findings and representative quotes were interpreted by the entire research team. Results: Twenty-seven patients were interviewed. One-third were treated at the county safety-net hospital and the remainder were treated at the university health system. An equal proportion of patients presented with oral cavity, oropharyngeal, and laryngeal or other tumors. Two significant findings were identified on semi-structured interviews. First, patients did not perceive the relevance of SC prior to treatment. Second, anxiety surrounding the HNC diagnosis and impending treatment dominated in the pretreatment phase. Conclusion: Improved HNC patient education about the relevance and importance of SC in the pretreatment setting is needed. Integration of social work or psychological services in HNC clinics is warranted to address patients’ cancer-related worry—a discrete, dominant pretreatment SC need.