Insomnia, depression and anxiety in patients urgently referred with suspicion of head and neck cancer

Objective To determine differences in insomnia, depression and anxiety between ENT patients with benign and malignant conditions prior to and after an urgent suspicion of cancer appointment. Methods Out-patients with urgent suspicion of cancer completed three psychometric questionnaires prior to their appointment and at two to four weeks post-diagnosis. Results There was no significant difference in questionnaire scores between malignant and benign patients prior to the patients' appointments (p > 0.05 for all questionnaires). In benign patients, there was significant improvement in scores for all questionnaires (p < 0.01) and in malignant patients there was significant worsening of scores for all questionnaires (p < 0.01) at follow-up appointments. Conclusion Prior to appointments, patients with benign and malignant conditions experienced similar levels of insomnia, depression and anxiety. Following diagnosis, cancer patients had significantly poorer scores, indicating worsening of these symptoms. In patients with benign diagnoses, all questionnaire scores improved, indicating resolution of their symptoms and possible association between the appointment and their baseline scores.