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Psychological distress and need for psycho-oncological support in spouses of total laryngectomised cancer patients—results for the first 3 years after surgery

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Abstract

Purpose

A total laryngectomy (TLE) leads to a variety of functional restrictions, which reduce the quality of life of cancer patients as well as their spouses. However, to date, there is little research focusing on the psychological distress of spouses of total laryngectomised cancer patients. The current study assesses psychological distress, need for psycho-oncological treatment and use of professional psychological care among spouses of total laryngectomised cancer patients.

Methods

A prospective multi-centre cohort study was conducted. Participants were interviewed in person 1, 2 and 3 years subsequent to their spouses’ TLE with standardised questionnaires (HADS, Hornheide Screening) and self-designed items.

Results

One year after their partners’ TLE, 154 spouses were interviewed. Over half of spouses (57 %) reported a high level of psychological distress and 33 % reported restlessness. Majority of spouses (21 %) reported wanting to learn relaxation methods and eight (5 %) had received psychological treatment in the past. Sixty-two spouses took part in the complete study. Over all three time points, psychological distress, the need for psycho-oncological support and the use of professional support among spouses remained stable. The need for additional professional counselling was low.

Conclusions

In view of the stability of psychological distress among half of the spouses within 3 years after TLE and their refusal of professional support, there is a need for the development and evaluation of new treatment strategies to help spouses cope with psychological distress. Our results indicated the most common additional professional need was learning relaxation methods, which may be used as a starting point for the investigation of new coping strategies in future studies.

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Notes

  1. In the current study, we use the term spouses for partners as well as husbands and wives.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the colleagues who collected data for this project: Helge Danker, Esther Herrmann, Susanne Kloetzner, Sonja Schmidt, Sabine Fleischmann, Jens Schwenke, Carina Szalai, Annett Pydde, Julia Roick, Stefan Schreiber, Sabine Fahsl, Annegret Gose, Gregor Siegl and Kerstin Sieben. The following colleagues generously gave clinical advice and helped with patient recruitment: Roland Taeschner, Ulrike Kienast, Eckart Klemm, Manfred Heim, Karl Hormes, Andreas Deckelmann, Cornelia Wulke, Orlando Guntinas–Lichius, Eva-Maria Jenzewski, Alexander Thiele and Angela Ulrich. Study clinics were University of Leipzig, Friedrich–Schiller University Jena, Martin–Luther University Halle–Wittenberg, Community Hospital St. Georg Leipzig, Hospital Dresden–Friedrichstadt, Hospital Chemnitz, Hospital Elblandkliniken, Hospital Martha–Maria Halle-Doelau, Helios–Clinic Erfurt, Hospital Cottbus, Sonnenbergklinik Bad Sooden-Allendorf, Rehabilitationszentrum Brandis and Bavaria-Klinik Kreischa. We are grateful for the intellectual input of members of the German Association of Laryngectomees, Werner Kubitza and Frank Maedler.

Finally, we would like to thank all participants in this study for their time and effort. This study was granted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Cancer Aid.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare. We have full control of primary data and will permit the journal to review these data if requested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Psychosocial Oncology, Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University of Leipzig, Philipp-Rosenthal-Strasse 55, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    A. Meyer, J. Keszte & D. Wollbrück

  2. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Medical Centre Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    A. Dietz

  3. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany

    J. Oeken

  4. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Sana Hospital Remscheid, Remscheid, Germany

    H. J. Vogel

  5. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, Jena, Thuringia, Germany

    S. Koscielny

  6. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, HELIOS Klinikum Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany

    K. Breitenstein

  7. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital St. Georg Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    E. F. Meister

  8. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Dresden, Germany

    F. Pabst

  9. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital Martha-Maria, Halle–Dölau, Germany

    J. Schock

  10. Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, McGill University Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    S. Bourkas

  11. Insitiute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemilogy, and Informatics, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany

    S. Singer

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  1. A. Meyer
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  9. E. F. Meister
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Correspondence to A. Meyer.

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Meyer, A., Keszte, J., Wollbrück, D. et al. Psychological distress and need for psycho-oncological support in spouses of total laryngectomised cancer patients—results for the first 3 years after surgery. Support Care Cancer 23, 1331–1339 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2485-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2485-8

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