Music and patient with head and neck cancer: proposal of welfare in multi professional therapy

• Grant number: 11/20197-8
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2012
• End date: May 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Social and Preventive Dentistry
• Principal Investigator: Maria Lucia Marçal Mazza Sundefeld
• Grantee: Maria Lucia Marçal Mazza Sundefeld
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia (FOA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araçatuba. Araçatuba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The human being is vocal in their essence as they have shown intentional vocal manifestation since their birth. The speech development represents the individual development according to the physical, psychological and social points of view and thus it makes speech our means of communication for the expression of our feelings and ideas leading to the integration in society. Individuals diagnosed with head and neck tumor suffer an impact in their quality of life since few health problems affect people go deeply as cancer does. The deep fear that strikes us is due to its effects as well as the social stigma associated with death. The disease itself and/or its treatment may, among many other effects, lead changes in communicative function. Justificative: There are researches which analyze the association of music and patients with cancer, however, very few of them study the effect of music therapy in patients with cancer, specifically with head and neck tumor. Psychological factors, such as stress, are more and more connected with hormonal alterations in the human body being an effective stimulus for the activation of adrenal system, which can be shown by cortisol level in the saliva. When the patient is submitted stress or neurogenic there is a sudden increase of adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion, follows by the increase of the cortisol secretion. The results of the current study will be able to stress the importance of a multidisciplinary support to the patients with head and neck cancer under treatment, with the help of music in group therapy, aiming at providing them with additional attendance evaluating the effects of this treatment, respecting the individual limitation of life of the patients with head and neck cancer. Objective: The aim is to evaluate the effects of physiotherapy, speech therapy and activities with music on the concentration of salivary cortisol and the quality of life of the patients with head and neck cancer. Methodology: The sample will consist of patients who will be under treatment in the year 2012 at Centro de Oncologia Bucal (COB) of the Faculdade de Odontologia de Araçatuba, UNESP (FOA-UNESP), who agree to participate in this study. The activities will take place on the COB, keeping the patient's names in secret to in the group of patients in therapy. Two groups will be compared being one with the is methodology and the other with the conventional approach. The laboratory analyses of the salivary cortisol concentration will be performed at the Endocrinology laboratory of the FOA-UNESP. (AU)