Evaluation of Degree of Thanatophobia Associated with Prosthetic Rehabilitation of Oral Cancer Patients

Khurshid A Mattoo^1, and Rishabh Garg²

¹Department of Prosthodontics, College of dentistry, Jazan University, (KSA)

²Department of Prosthodontics, Subharti dental college, Subharti University, Meerut, India

Cite this paper:
Khurshid A Mattoo and Rishabh Garg. Evaluation of Degree of Thanatophobia Associated with Prosthetic Rehabilitation of Oral Cancer Patients. American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2014; 2(12):272-275. doi: 10.12691/ajmcr-2-12-4

Abstract

Psychosocial effects of oral cancer have been studied with less devotion to patient related problems like thanatophobia or fear of death in such individuals. Thanatophobia is measured using Death attitude profile (revised) along with four other dimensions of death. Fear of death that develops after definitive diagnosis of oral cancer has psychological impact and may affect patient compliance to any treatment. Oral cancers are mostly of squamous cell type which has high mortality rates as compared to other cancers of the oral cavity. Ten subjects treated for different types of oral cancer were followed prospectively and recalled after 1, 2, 3 and 6 months respectively. A questionnaire that would determine the degree of thanatophobia was filled by the patients and scored on a scale from 1 to 7 in the direction of strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). Patients were found to have maximum fear at second month which declined at the end of six month.

Keywords:
death squamous cell carcinoma hemimandibulectomy maxillectomy biopsy

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Casto BC, Sharma S, Fisher JL, Knobloch TJ, Agrawal A, Weghorst CM: Oral cancer in Appalachia. J Heath Care Poor Underserved 2009; 20: 274-85.
[2]	Dwivedi RC, Kazi RA, Agrawal N, Nutting CM, Clarke PM, Kerawala CJ, Rhys-Evans PH, Harrington KJ: Evaluation of speech outcomes following treatment of oral and pharyngeal cancers. Cancer Treat Rev 2009; 35: 417-24.
[3]	Warnakulasuriya S: Global epidemiology of oral and oropharyngeal cancer. Oral Oncol 2009; 45:309-16.
[4]	Silverman S: Demographics and occurrence of oral and pharyngeal cancers: the outcomes, the trends, the challenge. J Am Dent Assoc 2001; 132: 7S-11S.
[5]	U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: With understanding and improving health and objectives for improving health. In Healthy People 2010. Volume 2. 2nd edition. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
[6]	Greenlee RT, Hill-Haron B, Murray T, Thun M: Cancer statistics, 2001. CA Cancer J Clin 2001; 51: 15-36.
[7]	Dwivedi RC, Kazi RA, Agrawal N, Nutting CM, Clarke PM, Kerawala CJ, Rhys-Evans PH, Harrington KJ: Evaluation of speech outcomes following treatment of oral and pharyngeal cancers. Cancer Treat Rev 2009; 35: 417-24.
[8]	Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Ervik M, et al. GLOBOCAN 2012 v1.0, Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide: IARC Cancer Base No. 11 [Internet]. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2013. Available at: http://globocan.iarc.fr.
[9]	Ferlay J, Steliarova-Foucher E, Lortet-Tieulent J, et al. Cancer incidence and mortality patterns in Europe: Estimates for 40 countries in 2012. European Journal of Cancer 2013; 49: 1374-1403.
[10]	American Cancer Society (2004) Cancer facts and figures. Available at http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/CAFF_finalPWSecured.pdf.
[11]	Hewitt M, Rowland JH, Yancik R. Cancer survivors in the United States: age, health, and disability. J Gerontol 2003; 58A: 82-91.
[12]	Pinto B, Trunzo J, Reiss P, Shui S. Exercise participation after diagnosis of breast cancer: trends and effects on mood and quality of life. Psycho-Oncol 2002; 11: 389-400.
[13]	MacVicar M, Winningham M, Nickel J. Effects of aerobic interval training on cancer patients’ functional capacity. Nurs Res 1989; 38: 251-348.
[14]	Hervouet S, Savard J, Simard S, Ivers H, Laverdiere J, Vigneault E, Fradet Y, Lacombe L Psychological functioning associated with prostate cancer: cross-sectional comparison of patients treated with radiotherapy, brachytherapy, or surgery. J Pain Symptom Manage 2005; 30: 474-484.
[15]	Hickok JT, Morrow GR, Roscoe JA, Mustian K, Okunieff P. Occurrence, severity, and longitudinal course of twelve common symptoms in 1129 consecutive patients during radiotherapy for cancer. J Pain Symptom Manage 2005; 30: 433-442.
[16]	Deimling GT, Kahana B, Bowman KF, Schaefer ML. Cancer survivorship and psychological distress in later life. Psycho-Oncol 2002; 11:479-494.
[17]	Feifel H. (Ed.) New meanings of death. 1977; New York: McGraw-Hill.
[18]	Feifel H. Psychology and death. American Psychologist 1990; 45: 537-543.
[19]	Feifel H & Nagy VT. (1981). Another look at fear of death. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology; 49: 278-286.
[20]	Fry PS. (1990). A factor analytic investigation of home-bound elderly individuals' concerns about death and dying and their coping responses. Journal of Clinical Psychology; 46: 737-748.
[21]	Collett L & Lester D. The fear of death and fear of dying. Journal of Psychology 1969; 72: 179-181.
[22]	Gesser G, Wong PTP & Reker GT. Death attitudes across the life-span: The development and validation of the Death Attitude Profile (DAP). Omega 1987-88; 18: 109-124.
[23]	Hooper T & Spilka B. Some meanings and correlates of future time and death among college students. Omega 1970; 1: 49-56.
[24]	Marshall VM. Last chapters: A sociology of aging and dying. 1980; Monterey: Brooks/Cole.
[25]	Neimeyer RA, Dingemans P & Epting FR. Convergent validity, situational stability, and meaningfulness of the Threat Index. Omega 1977; 8: 251-265.
[26]	Johnson NW and Wamakulasuriya KAAS. Epidemiology and aetiology of oral cancer in the UK. Community Dental Health, 1993; 10: 13-29.
[27]	Hindle I, Downer MC and Speight PM. The epidemiology of oral cancer. British Journal of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery 1996; 34: 471-476.
[28]	Wong TP, Reker GT, Gesser G. Death Attitude Profile- Revised: A multidimensional measure of attitudes toward death. In: Neimeyer RA, editor. Death Anxiety Handbook: Research, Instrumentation, and Application. Washington DC: Taylor &Francis; 2004. pp. 121-48.
[29]	Kubler-Ross E. On death and dying. 1969; New York: Macmillan.
[30]	Kubler-Ross E. Living with death and dying. 1981; New York: Macmillan.
[31]	Templer D. Death anxiety as related to depression and health of retired persons. Journal of Gerontology. 1971; 26: 521-523.
[32]	Templer D. Death anxiety in religiously very involved persons. Psychological Reports, 1972; 31: 361-362.
[33]	Braun M, Gordon D, Uziely B. Associations between oncology nurses' attitudes toward death and caring for dying patients. Oncol Nurs Forum. 2010; 37: E43-9.
[34]	Ho T, Barbero E, Hidalgo C, Camps C. Spanish nephrology nurses' views and attitudes towards caring for dying patients. J Ren Care. 2010; 36: 2-8.
[35]	Hutchison T, Sherman A. Didactic and experiential death and dying training: Impact upon death anxiety. Death Stud. 1992; 16: 317-30.
[36]	Butler RN. The life review: An interpretation of reminiscence in the aged. Psychiatry 1963; 26: 65-76.
[37]	Butler RN. Why survive? Being old in America. New York: Harper & Row. 1975.