Abstract
When coming to terms with a diagnosis of laryngeal cancer, patients find different ways of coping with their illness. These may or may not be related to communication. Vocal aspects of quality of life are particularly important with cancer of the larynx. The correlation between coping and subjective assessment of the voice-related quality of life was assessed in a cross-sectional study of patients after resection of T1 and T2 laryngeal tumours. As part of follow-up care, 55 male cancer patients with partial laryngectomy were asked about their voice-related quality of life and their coping strategies. The Voice-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (V-RQOL) and the Trier Coping Scales (TCS) were used as survey instruments. The voice-related quality of life of the patients was assessed on average as medium to good. The coping strategy most frequently chosen by patients was 'threat prevention', followed by 'search for social integration', 'rumination', 'search for information and experience exchange' and 'search for support in religion'. Correlations between coping strategy and the voice-related quality of life were weak to moderate and somewhat inconsistent in this patient population. There was no consistent or strong correlation between voice-related quality of life and coping strategies in male patients with partial laryngectomy, so that individual differences appeared to be more important in coping with illness than primarily voice-related factors such as the voice-related quality of life.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.