Faculty Collaboration Database

Cancer-related Fear and Worry in Patients With Low-risk Thyroid Cancer: A Longitudinal Cohort Study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2025 Jun 17;110(7):1881-1887

Date

10/14/2024

Pubmed ID

39400115

DOI

10.1210/clinem/dgae688

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-105009291219 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   1 Citation

Abstract

CONTEXT: Little is known about how patients' emotions impact the choice between hemi- and total thyroidectomy (TT) for low-risk thyroid cancer (LR-TC) and how these emotions change after treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate thyroid cancer-specific fear and worry both before and after treatment of LR-TC with hemi- or TT.

METHODS: This prospective cohort study enrolled adults with confirmed or likely LR-TC at 15 institutions. Participants completed measures of thyroid cancer-related fear and worry at the time of their treatment decision and 9 months later. Participants were categorized as having low, medium, or high levels of fear and worry in accordance with the literature. Those choosing hemithyroidectomy were compared to those choosing TT.

RESULTS: Of 177 eligible patients, 125 (70.6%) enrolled and 114 completed both surveys (91.2% retention). Overall, 41 (36.0%) participants chose hemithyroidectomy and 73 (64.0%) chose TT. Across all participants, thyroid cancer-related fear and worry both decreased significantly after surgery (fear, 25.8 ± 6.4 to 23.1 ± 7.4; worry, 8.2 ± 2.4 to 5.4 ± 2.1, P < .001). The proportion of participants with high fear decreased from 64.9% to 50.9%, whereas the proportion with high worry decreased from 75.4% to 41.2% (P < .001 for both). At both time points, no differences existed between those choosing hemi- and TT in levels of worry or fear.

CONCLUSION: Patients with LR-TC report lower levels of fear and worry 9 months after surgery regardless of the extent of surgery, suggesting that both surgeries provide an emotional benefit to some patients. Thyroid cancer-related fear and worry do not appear to influence patients' decisions to undergo hemi- or TT.

Author List

Lee SS, Antunez AG, Sinco B, Saucke MC, Bushaw KJ, Dream S, Fingeret A, Livhits MJ, Mathur A, McDow AD, Roman S, Voils CI, Pitt SC

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aged
Anxiety
Fear
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Thyroid Neoplasms
Thyroidectomy