Calidad de vida en pacientes diagnosticados con neoplasias malignas de cabeza y cuello en la ciudad de Bucaramanga, Colombia

Abstract

Introduction: The quality of life in patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer is affected in both physical and mental health, affecting interpersonal relationships with their environment. However, being a matter of little interest, it has little research, leaving aside all the emotional, physical, and mental implications that this disease causal. Objective: To determine the quality of life in patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer in the reference sites since 2019-2021. Materials and methods: An observational, descriptive cross-sectional study with a sample of 79 elderly patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer in the city of Bucaramanga who attended the reference centers. Data collected questionnaires QLQ-C30 and H&N 35 that were joined before being performed. The quality of life in functional capacity, symptoms, overall assessment, health and sociodemographic variables of the patients after diagnosis, univariate analysis using the STATA program 14 and bivariate for the CHI2 test were analyzed. It was based on resolution 008430 of 1993 of title 2 chapter 1 and law 1581. Results: The study evaluated 71 subjects, with an average age of 48 years, most of them female, stratum 4 and contributory health regimen. It was observed that the most frequent type of cancer is carcinoma in the larynx, the types of cancer with the greatest symptomatology were sarcomas and metastatic neck. On the other hand, the most frequent treatment was surgery. The oropharynx yielded the lowest scores with respect to the functional scale, and thus greater symptomatology. Conclusion: People with an early diagnosis or shorter time elapsed since the definitive diagnosis and the start of treatment have a better quality of life.