Prevalence and Risk Factors of Suicidal Ideation among Patients with Head and Neck Cancer: Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Suicide prevention strategies are clearly needed as part of routine clinical care in head and neck oncology, as well as their integration into clinical practice guidelines for HNC.

Exposure to suicidality in professionals working with oncology patients: An online survey

“…The situations mentioned in which health professionals further explore suicidal tendencies reflect some of the risk factors (both general, for example, pre‐existing psychiatric illness, especially depression, and cancer‐specific, for example, poor prognosis, advanced disease) that have also been identified in other studies 5,13,19 . This suggests that knowledge about risk factors is available, at least to a proportion of the HCPs, and that they also use this knowledge in their clinical work for in‐depth exploration.…”

“…Many of these studies examine general but also cancer‐specific risk factors 5,9‐11 . The connections between suicidal thoughts, desire to die, and committed suicides have also been the subject of research, 10,12,13 as have been barriers to identifying patients at risk for suicide 14 . A lack of training, especially concerning the identification of emotional symptoms of distress constitutes a major barrier 15,16 .…”

“…Studies show that oncological diseases can lead to suicidal crises at any time during the treatment, but also years afterwards 4,20‐25 . Existing studies 1,13,25,26 point to the need for psychological support for suicidal patients. Treating these patients requires the sensitization of everyone involved.…”

Barriers to psychosocial oncology service utilization in patients newly diagnosed with head and neck cancer

“…One hundred and fifty‐one HNC patients having participated in a previous longitudinal study were contacted by mail and invited to complete a follow‐up questionnaire. In this longitudinal study, patients completed self‐administered questionnaires upon diagnosis (face‐to‐face) as well as at 3, 6, and 12 months follow‐up (via mail; three reminders).…”

“…Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients experience higher levels of anxiety and depression compared with other oncologic populations, explained by a combination of pre‐existing vulnerability and the disease's high symptom burden, functional impairments, and disfigurement, increasing potential for distress and trauma . Even when psychosocial oncology (PSO) services (psychologist, social worker, psychiatrist) are offered as part of general oncological care, uptake is found in only 45% of the clinically distressed …”