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.
