Existence of benefit finding and posttraumatic growth in people treated for head and neck cancer: a systematic review

Abstract

Background. The impact of head and neck cancer (HNC) in long-term survivors differs widely among individuals, and a significant number of them suffer from the negative effects of disease, whereas others report significant positive effect. This systematic review investigated the evidence the implications of treatment for HNC and subsequent development of Benefit Finding (BF) or Posttraumatic Growth (PTG).Purpose. To understand how differing medical, psychological and social characteristics of HNC may lead to BF/PTG and subsequently inform post-treatment interventions to encourage positive outcomes.Method. In February 2012, five databases including Pubmed, and Psych Info, were searched, for peer-reviewed English-language publications. Search strings included key words pertaining to HNC, BF, and PTG. One thousand three hundred and sixty three publications were identified, reviewed, and reduced following Cochrane guidelines and inclusion/exclusion criteria specified by a group of maxillofacial consultants and psychologists. Publications were then quality assessed using the CASP Cohort Critical Appraisal tool.Findings. Five manuscripts met the search and selection criteria, and were sourced for review. All studies were identified as being level IIb evidence which is a medium level of quality. The majority of studies investigated benefit finding (80%) and were split between recruiting participant via cancer clinics and postal survey. They focused on the medical, psychological and social characteristics of the patient following completion of treatment for HNC.Conclusion. Demographic factors across the papers showed similar patterns of relationships across BF and PTG; that higher education/qualification and cohabitation/marriage are associated with increased BF/PTG. Similarly, overlap with disease characteristics and psychosocial factors where hope and optimism were both positively correlated with increased reported BF/PTG.

Quality of life trajectories after diagnosis of gynecologic cancer: a theoretically based approach

“…Our findings that holding back and intrusive thoughts were associated with worse HRQOL and physical impairment support Social-Cognitive Processing Theory in that they adversely impact psychosocial adaptation [13]. Benefit finding has not been well studied among women with gynecological cancer, but there is a growing body of work suggesting that finding benefit in the cancer experience is associated with better outcomes for cancer patients [45–48]. The lack of an association between benefit finding and depression and physical impairment trajectories suggest that the role of benefit finding may be less strong than holding back and intrusions for these outcomes.…”

Investigating the impact of self‐management behaviours on quality of life and fear of recurrence in head and neck cancer survivors: A population‐based survey

“…Our findings that positive and active engagement in life , constructive attitudes and approaches , and skill and technique acquisition were significantly associated with increases in global QoL and decreases in FoR and that positive and active engagement in life and constructive attitudes and approaches were associated with increases in HNC‐specific QoL are consistent with the wider cancer self‐management literature. For instance, positive appraisals such as optimism, hope, and inner strength have been linked to positive outcomes such as benefit finding, post‐traumatic growth, and higher QoL in individuals with HNC, and greater psychosocial adjustment and lower perceived stress amongst cancer survivors more generally . Engaging in active problem solving is a core component of cancer self‐management interventions, whilst acquiring new skills and techniques (eg, relating to medical management of HNC site) is recognised as critical in HNC rehabilitation .…”

Posttraumatic growth among head and neck cancer survivors with psychological distress

“…However, in this population, moderate to high levels of PTG have consistently been found [8][9][10], which are comparable to levels of PTG in other cancer populations [11][12][13]. In a systematic review including five studies, Harding and colleagues identified several factors that seem to be associated with PTG in HNC survivors: younger age at diagnosis, relationship status, positive reframing, optimism, and hope [14].…”