Understanding the psychological journey of patients with head and neck cancer in different periods: a qualitative study protocol

IntroductionThere are more than 900,000 new cases of head and neck tumors in the world every year, which is the sixth most common tumor in the world. During the treatment of head and neck cancer, patients often face various symptoms and psychological problems. In this qualitative study, patients with head and neck cancer were invited to share their psychological journey during diagnosis, treatment, and recovery to (1) understand their psychological status and feelings during different treatment stages, (2) their needs and concerns during different treatment stages, and (3) difficulties and problems in self-management. Methods and analysisWe adopt qualitative study to understand these patient psychological journey with head and neck cancer, especially when they are at different times in the diagnosis, treatment and completion of head and neck tumors. Thematic analysis will be carried out following the six-phase iterative process suggested by Braun and Clarke: (1) familiarising oneself with data, (2) generating initial codes, (3) searching for themes, (4) reviewing themes,(5) defining and naming themes and (6) providing the report, which will be used to analyse the qualitative data. Ethics and disseminationThis study has ethical approval from the Sichuan Cancer Hospital Ethics Committee. We will disseminate the findings through national and international conferences and international peer-reviewed journals. Strengths and limitationsIn this study, qualitative research was used to better understand the psychological process and feelings of patients with head and neck tumor at different stages of treatment. The subjects were interviewed in the same tumor hospital. Patients in different grade hospitals in different regions may have different psychological processes and experiences.