Relationship between positive psychological traits, perceived spousal support and head and neck cancer-specific health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional study in oncology treatment settings.

Authors

Yamunaa Sai Mohana Rao, Jasmin Jalil, Mohammad Farris Iman Leong Bin Abdullah

Published in

BMJ open. Volume 16. Issue 10. Pages e122154. Oct 01, 2026. Epub Oct 01, 2026.

Abstract

Data on how positive psychological traits and perceived spousal support are related to head and neck cancer (HNC)-specific health-related quality of life (QOL) using validated instruments in the Malay language in oncology settings are scarce. Hence, this study: (1) evaluated the association between demographic and clinical characteristics, optimism, posttraumatic growth (PTG), hope, perceived spousal support and HNC specific health-related QOL; and (2) assessed the mediation associations of PTG, perceived spousal support and hope on the relationship between optimism and HNC specific health-related QOL among a cohort of patients with HNC.
Cross-sectional study.
This study was conducted in two tertiary referral centres for oncology treatment in Malaysia.
Data were collected from a total of 240 patients with HNC.
The primary outcome was HNC specific health-related QOL assessed with the 35-item European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life-Head and Neck Module, while the secondary outcomes were optimism measured with the Life Orientation Test-Revised, PTG measured with the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Short Form, perceived spousal support evaluated with the Sources of Social Support Scale and hope assessed with the Dispositional Hope Scale.
Higher perceived spousal support (B=-0.454, 95% CI -0.781 to -0.126, p=0.007) and optimism (B=-2.001, 95% CI -2.660 to -1.342, p<0.001) were significantly associated with greater HNC specific health-related QOL but not PTG (p=0.772) and hope (p=0.081). In addition, those with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and those on chemotherapy alone had significantly greater HNC specific health-related QOL than those with other HNC tumours (B=-8.586, 95% CI 2.927 to 14.245, p=0.003) and those who combined surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, respectively (B=-10.864, 95% CI -18.897 to -2.831, p=0.008). Meanwhile, greater perceived spousal support partially mediated the association of optimism and improved HNC-specific health-related QOL but not PTG and hope.
Optimism and perceived spousal support may have a positive association with HNC-specific health-related QOL.

PMID:
42823118
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 02 Oct 2026.

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