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"About Face 2" Survey
(Data: 2011)

Introduction

  • The ‘About Face 2’ survey investigated issues identified by the earlier ‘About Face’ survey
  • These issues included the experiences, needs and quality of life (QoL) of patients with head and neck cancer

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Methodology

  • Interview-based pan-European survey of 104 head and neck cancer patients from Belgium, France, Portugal, Italy, Spain and Sweden
  • Questions were based on recall of patients’ own experiences in terms of:
    • Pre-diagnosis
    • At diagnosis
    • At treatment
    • Post-treatment
    • Impact of the disease, including quality of life and side effects

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Key findings

  • At every stage of the journey, patients want better communication and understanding
  • The overwhelming majority of patients were not aware of head and neck cancer before diagnosis
  • Many said physicians did not take early symptoms seriously
  • Information about treatment has to be tailored to the individual

The results from the ‘About Face 2’ survey were presented by Professor Jean-Louis Lefebvre as a poster session at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress (EMCC).

They just said I was going to have treatment but they didn’t explain the treatment, the side effects or the consequences – how long it would last and how long it would be before I could work again – they didn’t tell me anything

(Patient, France)

I was put on a chemotherapy protocol and I saw the oncologist every 2 weeks but I wasn’t given any explanation about it, I was just hooked up to it and I didn’t know anything about the doses

(Patient, Italy)
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