Prevalence of Pain and Associated Clinical Characteristics in 10‐Year Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer

Objective Pain prevalence in long‐term head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors is important but understudied to date. The present investigation examined pain prevalence, associated clinical characteristics, and disease‐specific health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) in a cohort of survivors 10 years postdiagnosis (N = 187). Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Single‐institution tertiary care center. Methods Pain was assessed using a single‐item numeric rating scale. Clinical characteristics were abstracted from the patient medical record and HNC‐specific HRQOL scores were measured using the Head and Neck Cancer Inventory (HNCI) and are presented by the pain subgroup. Results At 10 years postdiagnosis, 56.7% reported no pain, 20.3% reported mild pain, 16.0% reported moderate pain, and 7.0% reported severe pain. Most patients with moderate or severe pain at the 10‐year follow‐up assessment also had advanced‐stage disease at diagnosis. Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that advanced‐stage disease at diagnosis was a significant predictor of pain at 10 years postdiagnosis controlling for age, sex, and comorbidity status (β = .184, t = 2.193, P = .030, sr2 = 0.025). Across all HNC‐specific HRQOL domains, those reporting moderate/severe pain at 10 years postdiagnosis failed to reach a score of 70 which is indicative of high functioning on the HNCI in the areas of aesthetics, eating, speech, and social disruption. Conclusion Pain is a significant issue in long‐term HNC survivors up to 10 years postdiagnosis. More research is needed to understand the correlates and types of long‐term pain exhibited after treatment, including the implementation of screening and intervention into clinical workflow to improve outcomes and optimize HNC survivorship care.