Surgery helps allay fear, worry in patients with low-risk thyroid cancer

Fear and worry significantly decrease among patients with low-risk thyroid cancer (TC) following surgery, reports a recent study.

A total of 177 adults with confirmed or likely low-risk TC at 15 institutions were included in this prospective cohort study. Participants completed measures of TC-related fear and worry at the time of their treatment decision and 9 months after surgery.

The investigators categorized patients as having low, medium, or high levels of fear and worry in accordance with the literature. Participants who chose hemithyroidectomy were compared with those who opted for total thyroidectomy (TT).

Of the eligible participants, 125 (70.6 percent) enrolled and 114 completed both surveys (91.2 percent retention). Forty-one (36.0 percent) patients chose hemithyroidectomy, and 73 (64.0 percent) picked TT.

A significant decrease in TC-related fear and worry was observed after surgery across all patient groups (fear: from 25.8 to 23.1; worry: from 8.2 to 5.4; p<0.001). The proportion of participants with high fear also dropped from 64.9 percent to 50.9 percent, while those with high worry decreased from 75.4 percent to 41.2 percent (p<0.001 for both).

Notably, the levels of fear or worry did not differ between patients choosing hemithyroidectomy and those choosing TT at both timepoints.

"Patients with low-risk TC report lower levels of fear and worry 9 months after surgery regardless of the extent of surgery, suggesting that both surgeries provide an emotional benefit to some patients,” the researchers said. “TC-related fear and worry do not appear to influence patients’ decisions to undergo hemithyroidectomy or TT.”