Questionnaire Survey to Identify the Medical Departments That Patients With Possible Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) Symptoms Tend to Choose

In the treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC), any delay in omit initiation worsens the overall prognosis. Thus, the early start of HNC treatment is crucial. Unfortunately, treatment delays persist in clinical practice. There are several possible reasons for this. One reason is that patients with HNC do not visit an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) doctor. This is because non-ENT doctors (e.g., general practitioners {GPs}) lack expertise in HNC and therefore may unrecognize it. Therefore, guiding patients with suspected HNC symptoms to an otorhinolaryngologist, an HNC specialist, is necessary. To determine the departments that patients with potential HNC symptoms tend to select, we administered a questionnaire survey to 140 participants. Fewer than 60% of respondents indicated they would consult an otorhinolaryngologist even when recognizing symptoms suggestive of HNC. Notably, a significantly low percentage of respondents mentioned they would consult an otorhinolaryngologist for neck masses. Public awareness of HNC symptoms, especially the association between a neck mass and HNC, is limited. The lack of understanding by the general public regarding the relationship between neck masses and HNC is a challenge to prompt initiation of treatment.