Fear of recurrence and psychological distress in head and neck cancer patients and their carers

Abstract

The preliminary results establish that early fears and distress within individuals govern later reports on these same attributes, but that there is some weak evidence of influence from one attribute to another within and across individuals in the dyad. Future prospective dyadic research is warranted to ascertain the level of these fears over an extended time and their relationship to patient and carer adaptation. Intervention may be needed to reduce this disease concern to a manageable level at an early stage of the illness trajectory.