Unmet needs in head and neck cancer patients: Unmet needs, emotional disorders, and pain.

e17501Background: knowledge is still lacking about head and neck patients’ unmet needs and their association with the other debilitating symptomatologies that worsen Quality of Life (QoL), compliance to treatments and prognosis. The aim of this research, so, it was to investigate the unmet needs of this type of patients in accordance with sympomts. Beside this study tried to evaluate if patients’ needs were correctly understood by their caregivers, nurses and oncologist. Methods: we surveyed 100 patients (80 men and 20 women) with head and neck cancer, during the active phase of chemotherapy treatmet,58 caregivers’ patients, nurses and the oncologist. The axious symptomatology and the depressive symptomatology were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Distress was assessed by the Distress Thermometer (DT). Unmet needs were assessed from patients and their caregivers by Supportive Care Needs Survey-short Form (SCNS-SF34); nurses and the oncologist had to answer only to the 5 questi...