Status of mental and social activities of young and middle-aged patients after papillary thyroid cancer surgery

Songhao Chen; Xi'e Hu; Ping Yang; Lin Yang; Shujia Peng; Li He; Lijuan Yuan; Guoqiang Bao

doi:10.3389/fonc.2024.1338216

Status of mental and social activities of young and middle-aged patients after papillary thyroid cancer surgery

Front Oncol. 2024 Mar 26:14:1338216. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1338216. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Songhao Chen^#^{1

2}, Xi'e Hu^#¹, Ping Yang¹, Lin Yang¹, Shujia Peng¹, Li He³, Lijuan Yuan¹, Guoqiang Bao¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The 920 Hospital of Joint Logistic Support Force of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), Kunming, China.
³ Department of Pathology, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is prevalent among younger populations and has a favorable survival rate. However, a significant number of patients experience psychosocial stress and a reduced quality of life (QoL) after surgical treatment. Therefore, comprehensive evaluations of the patients are essential to improve their recovery.

Methods: The present study enrolled 512 young and middle-aged patients diagnosed with PTC who underwent surgery at our institution between September 2020 and August 2021. Each participant completed a series of questionnaires: Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7), European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), Thyroid Cancer-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (THYCA-QoL), and Readiness to Return-to-Work Scale (RRTW).

Results: GAD-7 data showed that almost half of the study subjects were experiencing anxiety. Regarding health-related quality of life (HRQoL), participants reported the highest levels of fatigue, insomnia, voice problems, and scarring, with patients in anxious states reporting worse symptoms. Based on RRTW, more than half of the subjects had returned to work and had better HRQoL compared to the others who were evaluating a possible return to work. Age, gender, BMI, education, diet, residence, health insurance, months since surgery, monthly income, and caregiver status were significantly correlated with return to work. Additionally, having a caregiver, higher monthly income, more time since surgery, and living in a city or village were positively associated with return to work.

Conclusion: Young and middle-aged patients with PTC commonly experience a range of health-related issues and disease-specific symptoms following surgery, accompanied by inferior psychological well-being, HRQoL, and work readiness. It is crucial to prioritize timely interventions targeting postoperative psychological support, HRQoL improvement, and the restoration of working ability in PTC patients.

Keywords: mental state; papillary thyroid cancer; quality of life; social activities; young and middle-aged.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by School Science and Technology Development Fund Project (2020ZTB11).