Deamond, Haley, Devault-Tousignant, Cyril, Lang, Jacob, Lo, Chris, Sliver, Jennifer, Sadeghi, Nader, Rosberger, Zeev, Frenkiel, Saul, Hier, Michael, Zeitouni, Anthony, Kost, Karen, Mlynarek, Alex, Richardson, Keith, Chartier, Gabrielle, Mascarella, Marco, Sultanem, Khalil, Shenouda, Georges, Cury, Fabio, and Henry, Melissa (2026) Toward a Typology of Patients With Head and Neck Cancer: Biopsychosocial Profiles Predicting Longitudinal Quality of Life. Head and Neck. (In Press)

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Abstract

Background

Quality of life (QoL) in head and neck cancer (HNC) is influenced by complex biopsychosocial factors, yet few longitudinal studies have examined these relationships immediately post-treatment.

Methods

In this prospective study, 232 patients newly diagnosed with primary HNC completed psychometric assessments, clinical interviews, and medical chart reviews at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months. QoL was measured using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–HNC module. A two-step cluster analysis identified distinct biopsychosocial subgroups, and mixed ANOVA tested QoL trajectories across time.

Results

Three clusters emerged: (1) early-stage disease with low treatment intensity; (2) high psychological burden and (3) advanced disease with high treatment intensity. These were associated with highest QoL, persistently lowest QoL (p < 0.001), and intermediate QoL that improved over time respectively.

Conclusions

Psychological distress exerted a stronger influence on QoL than medical burden. Early identification and intervention for psychosocial risk factors may optimize recovery in HNC patients.

Item ID:	90969
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1097-0347
Copyright Information:	This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2026 The Author(s). Head & Neck published by Wiley Periodicals LLC
Date Deposited:	21 Apr 2026 02:26
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology @ 70% 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3211 Oncology and carcinogenesis > 321199 Oncology and carcinogenesis not elsewhere classified @ 30%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2001 Clinical health > 200105 Treatment of human diseases and conditions @ 50% 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 50%
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