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Priorities of head and neck cancer patients: a patient survey based on the brief ICF core set for HNC

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Abstract

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Set for Head and Neck Cancer (ICF-HNC) covers the typical spectrum of problems in functioning experienced by patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). The major goal of the present work was to evaluate patients’ priorities using the brief ICF-HNC as a starting point. A priorities assessment checklist consisting of 15 statements was created based on the 14 validated categories of the brief ICF-HNC. In a cross-sectional study, patients were requested to select up to 5 items that were especially important to them. The checklist was sent by mail to 465 patients at different time points of cancer follow-up and handed out to 56 patients with recent HNC diagnosis. Altogether 300 (64.51 %) patients returned the checklist. The top priority of our sample was “I want to survive the cancer”, followed by “I want that all the expenses for cancer treatment, cancer care and any additional follow-up treatments be covered by my health insurance or by the welfare system”, “I want to be able to continue performing all daily life tasks well”, “I want to have trusting relationships with my doctors, nurses and therapists” and “I want to be able to speak clearly”. Although survival was, as expected, the top priority for patients enrolled in the study, we show that the weight given to survival and further symptoms or daily life activities meaningfully changes when the biopsychosocial perspective proposed in the ICF is adopted.

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Acknowledgments

We express our thanks to all participants of the patient survey for their valuable contribution and commitment to support the project. The project was funded by “Deutsche Krebshilfe e.V.” (Grant DKH 108909).

Conflict of interest

All authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Marchioninistr 15, 81377, Munich, Germany

    Uta Tschiesner, Carla Sabariego, Sven Becker, Marita Stier-Jarmer & Ulrich Harreus

  2. Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), Chair for Public Health and Health Services Research, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

    Carla Sabariego, Elisabeth Linseisen, Marita Stier-Jarmer & Alarcos Cieza

  3. Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, England

    Alarcos Cieza

  4. Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland

    Alarcos Cieza

Authors
  1. Uta Tschiesner
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  2. Carla Sabariego
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  3. Elisabeth Linseisen
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  4. Sven Becker
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  5. Marita Stier-Jarmer
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  6. Alarcos Cieza
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  7. Ulrich Harreus
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ulrich Harreus.

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Tschiesner, U., Sabariego, C., Linseisen, E. et al. Priorities of head and neck cancer patients: a patient survey based on the brief ICF core set for HNC. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 270, 3133–3142 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-013-2446-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-013-2446-8

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