Priorities for the Head and Neck Cancer Patient, their Companion and Members of the Multidisciplinary Team and Decision Regret

Abstract

Aims To compare the treatment outcome priorities of patients, their companions and members of the multidisciplinary team (MDT), and also to determine if the former two groups suffered from regret of their decision. Materials and methods Patients were eligible if attending with a companion at least 6 months after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer given with curative intent. They were interviewed by two clinicians separately with questions from the Chicago Priority Scale and Ottawa Decision Regret Scale. Results In total, 30 patients, 30 companions and 25 members of the MDT were evaluated. ‘Being cured of my cancer’, ‘living as long as possible’, ‘having no pain’ and ‘being able to swallow all foods and drinks’ were the top four priorities for all three groups. Patients ranked ‘having no pain’ lower than either companions ( P = 0.003) and members of the MDT ( P = 0.006). Patients ranked ‘keeping my appearance unchanged’ as less important than members of the MDT ( P = 0.013) and ‘keeping my normal sense of taste and smell’ as more important than members of the MDT ( P = 0.013). The post-treatment regret score was 12.50 for patients and 10.33 for companions out of 100 ( P value was not significant). Conclusions There was a strong agreement between patients, their companions and members of the MDT with regards to priorities in head and neck cancer outcomes and low post-treatment regret for patients and their companions. These results suggest that the patients’ companions and members of the MDT are able to exercise good judgment when it comes to supporting patients in decision making.