The experience of ENT cancer : how does it impact the social life of the spouse ?

Sociability is defined as the set of experiences connecting the individual to other people. It brings together the analysis of five different environments: the friendly environment, the solitary environment, the known environment, the unknown environment, and the necessary environment

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of ENT cancer and  its treatment on the sociability of spouses.

The collection was carried out via an original questionnaire sent to the patient’s spouses. The main outcome criterion used was the spouse's self-assessment of the influence or otherwise of the illness on their daily life.

We included the spouses of patients treated for squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, hypopharynx, the oropharynx, and the oral cavity between  1er january 2022 and 30 septembre 2023. A informed consent of patients and their spouses has been collected.The spouses of the selected patients were asked to answer the questionnaire assessing their social relationships .

Sixty spouses responded to the questionnaire with a clear predominance of female spouses (51F/9M). Their daily activities were influenced by the disease in 85% of cases.

The friendly environment was considered to have deteriorated in % 51,7%. The number of solitary activities increased in 66,7% of cases. The unfamiliar environment was judged altered in 70% of cases. Social activities linked to the known external environment decreased among 63,3% of spouses. The necessary environment including relationships within the couple was judged to be altered in 48,3% of spouses.

The quality of life of spouses of patients with head and neck cancer is known to be deteriorated. Our study explored more specifically the sociability of spouses showing a real deterioration in all its areas, which underlines the importance of psychologically supporting spouses.