Social participation and its associated factors among head and neck cancer patients: a cross‑sectional study

The special anatomical location and side effects of head and neck tumors (such as appearance change and dysphagia) can easily cause social isolation and psychological problems in patients. Social participation, as an important rehabilitation index that affects their quality of life and prognosis, is rarely studied in China, and the associated factors remain underexplored.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the social participation level of patients with head and neck tumors and explore its associated factors, to provide a reference for formulating targeted intervention measures.

Between September 2023 and July 2024, 176 patients with head and neck tumors from a tertiary hospital in Liaoning Province, China, participated in a cross-sectional study. The research instruments comprised the Demographic and Clinical Characteristics Questionnaire, the Social Dysfunction Screening Scale (SDSS), the Lubben Social Network Scale-6 (LSNS-6), and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head & Neck (FACT-H&N).

The defect rate of social participation in patients with head and neck tumors was 86.36%. Multivariable stepwise linear regression analysis showed that the total social participation score was negatively correlated with the total social network score (β=-0.327, P < 0.001), negatively correlated with the total quality of life score (β=-0.201, P < 0.001), negatively correlated with per capita monthly household income (β=-0.193, P = 0.003), positively correlated with divorce/widowhood (β = 0.166, P = 0.011) correlation, and positively correlated with radiotherapy (β = 0.133, P = 0.035).

The degree of social participation of patients with head and neck cancer is low. It is suggested that medical staff should pay attention to the feelings of social participation of patients with head and neck cancer, focusing on patients who are unmarried, divorced or widowed, with low monthly family income and entering the radiotherapy stage, and take clinical nursing intervention measures to improve the social network of patients and pay attention to their quality of life, to improve the feelings of social participation of patients.