Depressive symptoms during and after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer

Background. Patients with head and neck cancer are extraordinarily susceptible to depressive traits. Thus, a general screening of these patients at their first admission to the ital is desirable. Methods. From 1997-2001, 133 patients with head and neck tumors filled in the Self-Rating-Depression-Scale (SDS) at the beginning and end of radiotherapy (ti1/ti2), 6 weeks, and 6 months after radiotherapy (ti3/ti4). Results. The SIDS index increased significantly from 46.44 (ti1) to 48.91 (ti2) (p = .025) and then remained stable. The subdomain somatic-eating-related symptoms at ti1 was significantly lower than ti2 (p < .001). In contrast to inpatients, outpatients and those with conventional instead of hyperfractionated-accelerated radiotherapy were less impaired by eating-related symptoms. Patients with higher education showed a lower SIDS index and cognitive scale. Marital status, tumor stage, histologic grading, and substance abuse had no influence. Conclusions. Patients with a higher risk of depression should receive long-term monitoring during and after the end of radiotherapy, and Prompt intervention strategies should be applied. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.