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Patient and carer experience of nutrition care throughout treatment for head and neck cancer: a systematic qualitative review and thematic synthesis

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Abstract

Nutrition care plays a critical role in the provision of best practice care to head and neck cancer (HNC) patients, with carers playing an important role in supporting patients to maintain nutrition intake. This qualitative systematic review investigated patient and carer experience of nutrition care throughout and beyond HNC treatment. Five databases were systematically searched for qualitative studies reporting on patient and carer experience of nutrition care throughout HNC. Twenty-five studies including 435 patients and 46 carers were identified, revealing three themes: information and support in the healthcare setting, enteral feeding challenges and management, and life outside hospital. Findings highlight the importance of providing individualised person-centred nutrition care to patients with HNC and their carers. Further qualitative research is needed to inform healthcare professionals about the needs of patients and carers to provide appropriate support throughout the treatment trajectory across and between different treatment modalities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4067, Queensland, Australia

    Joanne S. Hiatt, Teresa E. Brown, Merrilyn Banks & Judith Bauer

  2. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Herston, 4029, Queensland, Australia

    Joanne S. Hiatt, Teresa E. Brown, Merrilyn Banks & Carrie-Anne Lewis

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  1. Joanne S. Hiatt
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  2. Teresa E. Brown
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Contributions

The corresponding author, Joanne Hiatt, thought of the idea for the systematic review and performed the literature search. Critical appraisal of articles was carried out by Joanne Hiatt, Teresa Brown, and Carrie-Anne Lewis. Thematic analysis of selected articles was carried out by Joanne Hiatt and Teresa Brown. The review article was drafted by Joanne Hiatt and was critically reviewed by Teresa Brown, Judy Bauer, Merrilyn Banks, and Carrie-Anne Lewis.

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Correspondence to Joanne S. Hiatt.

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Conflict of interest

The systematic review was conducted as part of JH’s PhD, funded by the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Research Foundation. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. As this is a systematic review, the authors do not have full control of all primary data.

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Hiatt, J.S., Brown, T.E., Banks, M. et al. Patient and carer experience of nutrition care throughout treatment for head and neck cancer: a systematic qualitative review and thematic synthesis. Support Care Cancer 28, 5633–5647 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05576-w

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