Objective:

to evaluate the most frequent symptoms showed by patients with cancer of head and neck, and associated factors.

Methodology:

cross-sectional study conducted with 77 patients of service of head and neck surgery of the National Institute of Cancer (Brazil). It was used the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS), adapted to Brazil. It was estimated the prevalence of symptoms, as well as its association with demographic and clinical variables, assessed through Chi-squared and ANOVA tests.

Results:

the most prevalent symptoms were: dry mouth (62.5 %), sadness (60 %), concerns (53.75 %), nervousness (48.75 %) and cough (46.25 %). Difference in the physical symptoms of low frequency (PHYS-L) was identified for the age group, with greater complaint among young people (p < 0.01). On the global scale (TMSAS) there was greater complaint of outpatients than that of hospitalized patients (p = 0.05). There was greater complaint of symptoms of low frequency among patients without metastasis (p = 0.05).

Conclusion:

if it is taken into account the appearance of multiple symptoms in cancer patients, forms able to assess these in a broader way are necessary, which allow the nurse to get a better understanding of the complexity of the groups of symptoms and improve clinical interventions in the nursing process.

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