Patient-to-patient communication reduces fear of cancer recurrence after laryngectomy in RCT
In a randomized controlled trial, 85 laryngeal cancer patients who underwent total laryngectomy were assigned to one of three groups: a patient-to-patient communication model (Patients' Group, PG), standard care (Routine Group, RG), or professional psychological support (Psychologists' Group, PHG). The primary outcome was fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) measured by the FCRI at 3 months post-treatment. Secondary outcomes included anxiety/depression (HADS) and swallowing-related quality of life (SWAL-QOL) at one month post-treatment.
For the primary outcome, the PG demonstrated a 38% reduction in FCRI scores at 3 months, compared to 12% in the RG and 22% in the PHG. The abstract states this was a 'significantly greater improvement' but does not report p-values or confidence intervals. For swallowing-related quality of life at one month, SWAL-QOL scores were PG: 64.7, PHG: 51.3, and RG: 38.7.
Safety and tolerability data were not reported in the abstract. Key limitations include the lack of reported statistical significance values, confidence intervals, and baseline characteristics. The sample size of 85 is modest, and follow-up was limited to 3 months for the primary outcome.
While the patient-to-patient model showed promising relative improvements in this trial, clinicians should interpret these findings cautiously due to the incomplete statistical reporting. The approach may represent a low-cost complementary strategy, but its efficacy and safety require validation in larger studies with full outcome reporting.
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