Abstract :
To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oraloncology.2007.01.009 Byline: C.D. Llewellyn (a), J. Weinman (a), M. McGurk (b) Keywords: Adaptation; Subjective well-being; Life satisfaction; Oral cancer Abstract: The main aim of this study was to establish whether oral cancer patients were at risk of long-term problems with adaptation, whilst investigating contributory factors using a framework of Subjective Well-Being. Three samples of patients treated for either oral cancer (n =115); throat cancer (n =47), or benign conditions of the salivary gland (n =33) were recruited into a cross-sectional, postal questionnaire study. A gender and age matched healthy normative sample (n =115) was recruited for comparison purposes. Measures included The Satisfaction with Life Scale, the General Health Survey (SF-12), Life Orientation Test and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Patients with oral cancer demonstrated similar levels of cognitive and emotional well-being as the other samples. Time since treatment and the majority of clinical and treatment related factors had no effect on cognitive and emotional adaptation in any of the patient samples. Author Affiliation: (a) Health Psychology Section, Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry (Guy's Campus), King's College London, 5th Floor Thomas-Guy House, Guy's Hospital, London, SE1 9RT, UK (b) Department of Oral Surgery, Guy's Hospital NHS Trust, London SE1 9RT, UK Article History: Received 8 November 2006; Revised 5 January 2007; Accepted 8 January 2007