Characterization of patients undergoing diagnosis of malignant tumor in the head and neck of a Dental Centre

• Grant number: 10/13978-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2011
• End date: March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Psychological Treatment and Prevention
• Principal Investigator: Ana Teresa de Abreu Ramos Cerqueira
• Grantee: Karen Mendes Graner
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FMB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

To describe the sociodemographic characteristics, aspects of lifestyle, physical health, mental and self-care behaviors to health, and assess the understanding of the diagnostic, expectations and treatment satisfaction with the healthcare of patients with suspected head and neck cancer at a center of a Dental Faculty of Dentistry of São Paulo. A descriptive study will qualitatively and quantitatively, by estimating a random sample of thirty patients diagnosed positive for cancer. The design will be in two steps: (1) Application of a questionnaire to obtain demographic data and interviews about lifestyle, reason for consultation, perceived symptoms, history of injury and expectations. Instruments will be used to assess anxiety (Trait Anxiety Inventory-State), depression (Beck Depression Inventory), alcohol abuse (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) and common mental disorder (Self Reporting Questionnaire), (2) after the confirmation of cancer diagnosis, a second semi-structured interview will seek data on the received understanding of the diagnosis, expectations about treatment, satisfaction with the communication of the diagnosis and treatment received. It will be applied again the STAI-State, BDI and SRQ-20. Interviews will be audio taped, transcribed and analyzed according to the proposal of content analysis to later link them with variables relating to patient characteristics. (AU)