Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Head and Neck Cancer Patients: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Gene-Environment Interaction.

Publication date: Dec 09, 2024

This study aimed to assess the occurrence of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. The goal also was to explore potential associations between PTSS, demographic factors, psychological variables, and specific genetic variants. This study included a total of 155 HNC patients, divided into pre-pandemic (n = 76) and COVID-19 pandemic (n = 79) groups. PTSS assessments were conducted using a standardized questionnaire. The assessment of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) involved specific questionnaire items. Genetic variants were identified via RT-PCR. Statistical analysis employed linear multivariate regression, while mediation analysis examined gene-environment interactions. In the pre-pandemic, higher PTSS scores were found to be associated with younger age (p = 0. 02) and a history of cumulative ACEs (p = 0. 001). Mediation analysis revealed that ACEs had a direct impact on PTSS scores, with the FKBP5 CC genotype (rs1360780, C>T) mediating this association by 29%. In the pandemic, elevated PTSS scores were correlated with a history of depression (p = 0. 001), the negative impact of the pandemic (p = 0. 007), and undergoing palliative treatment (p = 0. 02). Our findings provide insights into the psychosocial and genetic factors contributing to PTSS in HNC patients, considering the additional stressors introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Concepts Keywords
Aces adverse childhood experience
Genetic COVID‐19 pandemic
Pcr gene–environment interaction
Psychosocial post‐traumatic symptom
Rs1360780

Semantics

Type Source Name
disease MESH Head and Neck Cancer
disease MESH COVID-19 Pandemic
disease MESH adverse childhood experiences
disease IDO history
disease MESH depression
disease IDO symptom

Original Article

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