Assessing head and neck cancer patient outcome domains.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the relative importance on patients' lives of multiple outcomes resulting from the management of head and neck cancer (HNC). HNC patients filled out a disease-specific quality of life (QOL) survey covering 5 domains (speech, eating, aesthetics, pain/discomfort, and social/role functioning). Logistic regression was used to determine which of these domains best predicted the patients' response to a single, overall QOL assessment. In univariate analyses, all 5 domains were significantly correlated to QOL (p<.0001), with correlation coefficients ranging from.48 for eating to.64 for social/role functioning. Logistic regression indicated that speech and eating best predicted QOL (R(2) =.4647), with odds-ratios of 2. 96 for speech and 2.49 for eating. These data demonstrated that, for this group of patients, speech has the most impact on well-being, whereas eating has a substantial, unrelated influence. This is important information in counseling patients about treatment plans that have different levels of impairment.