Oral and or pharyngeal cancers so far have become a dreaded disease due to its considerably higher rate of occurrence associated with mortality and morbidity. The global overall five year survival is approximately 50% – 60% with varied geographic distribution.
Apart from physical crippling, mental instability due to apprehension of death as well as inactivity plays a crucial role in the prognostication of head & neck cancer. Most of the cancer patients and survivors experience psychosocial distress during the course of their diagnosis and treatment. Psychosocial distress can be related to physical or psychological problems, family issues or social concerns. Issues and the level of distress vary between two individuals, and within an individual itself, over the course of diagnosis and treatment. This disruption of social well-being is cumulatively considered as diminution in quality of life (QoL). Unfortunately, assessment of psychosocial aspect is most often ignored among cancer patients and their care-givers. The aim of this review article is to highlight the prevalence of psychological and psychosocial distresses and its specific manifestations in
the oral cancer population as well. Researchers have evolved scales to evaluate the status and level of anxiety and depression which is now-a-days mandatory to ensure appropriate management in these cases.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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