Disruption to radiation therapy sessions due to anxiety among patients receiving radiation therapy to the head and neck area can be predicted using patient self-report measures.

Objective: This analysis sought to determine whether patient self-report measures were associated with disruption to radiation therapy sessions due to anxiety among cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy to the head and neck region.

Method: A cohort of patients undergoing radiation therapy to the head and neck region at a major regional radiation oncology treatment centre (ROTC) in Australia completed self-report measures of anxiety, history of panic and fears relevant to use of an immobilising mask. The treating Radiation Therapist (RT) rated the level of session disruption due to patient anxiety during the Computerised Tomography/Simulation (CT/Sim) (baseline) session and first treatment session.