Mar 3, 2020
This podcast highlights original research published in the March 2020 issue of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, the official journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) Foundation.
The objective of this study was to characterize the temporal trajectory of body image disturbance (BID) in patients with surgically treated head and neck cancer (HNC).
In conclusion, in this cohort of patients surgically treated for HNC, BID worsens posttreatment before returning to pretreatment (baseline) levels at 9 months posttreatment. However, 4 in 10 patients will experience a protracted course with persistent posttreatment body image concerns, and half will experience a significant increase in BIS scores relative to pretreatment levels.