Cervical Cancer Clinical Trials

Objective: Gain insight into the mechanisms explaining psychological distress (i.e. anxiety, depression, cancer worry, perceived stress) in a prospective population-based sample of cervical cancer patients. Factors to be studied include characteristics of the individual (demographical and clinical, including comorbidities), characteristics of the environment ((sexual) relationships), biological function (cortisol, melatonin and sex hormone production assessed in scalp hair, inflammation and telomere length assessed in blood, overall quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30), symptoms (EORTC QLQ-CX24), functional status (physical activity and sleep measured using the Actigraph activity tracker, and food intake measured using the online 'Eetmeter'), and general health perceptions (B-IPQ). The second aim is to assess the impact of cervical cancer on partners' distress (cancer worry, illness perceptions, relationship quality, dyadic coping).