Data-driven biopsychosocial profiles to inform early psycho-oncology triage in head and neck cancer

PURPOSE: Rapid head and neck cancer (HNC) diagnostic pathways compress assessment and treatment planning into a few days. However, patients differ substantially in their psychological, physical, functional, interpersonal, and medical needs. Single-score distress screening may not capture this heterogeneity. METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional baseline data from 96 adults assessed within an interdisciplinary 72-h fast-track diagnostic program for suspected or newly diagnosed HNC. Five theory-driven, z-standardized domains (psychological distress, physical burden, functional impairment, interpersonal vulnerability, medical complexity) were derived and clustered with k-means. Psychosocial care contacts within 14 days served as an exploratory external criterion and were not used as clustering inputs. RESULTS: A three-cluster solution yielded (i) low burden (n = 58, 60.4%), (ii) psychologically distressed (n = 24, 25.0%) with elevated distress and comparatively low medical complexity, and (iii) somatic/functional high burden (n = 14, 14.6%) characterized by prominent physical and functional burden. Psychosocial care utilization differed only modestly across clusters. CONCLUSIONS: Multidimensional profiling in this 72-h HNC pathway yielded clinically interpretable subgroups that may inform needs-based supportive and psychosocial care allocation. Because observed utilization did not map strongly onto profiles, prospective validation is required before clinical implementation.