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Patient-reported outcome during radiotherapy for head and neck cancer: the use of different PRO questionnaires

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European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients are typically treated with radiotherapy (RT), which might lead to side effects and deterioration of quality of life (QoL). Studies in other cancers indicate that systematic use of patient-reported outcome (PRO) can be a tool to increase awareness of patients’ symptoms and improve QoL. Multiple PRO questionnaires have been developed and validated for HNC, complicating the interpretation of results from scientific studies. In this exploratory study, symptom scores from four essential symptoms present in four different HNC-specific PRO questionnaires were evaluated.

Methods

Four HNC-specific PRO questionnaires (EORTC QLQ-H&N35, FACT-H&N, MDASI-HN, and PRO-CTCAE) for patients undergoing radiotherapy were completed by eligible HNC patients up to ten times during and after RT. Four essential symptoms (pain, dysphagia, hoarseness, and dry mouth) were present in all questionnaires. The symptom scores for these symptoms were aligned and evaluated.

Results

Twelve patients were included and completed a total of 328 PRO questionnaires out of 420. Similarity between symptom score for the four symptoms was found, when the symptom scores were aligned. The symptom scores increased during RT and decreased afterwards for all four symptoms and in all four questionnaires.

Conclusion

Four HNC-specific PRO questionnaires are found similar in reflecting symptom scores over time concerning four important HNC symptoms (pain, dysphagia, hoarseness, and dry mouth). PRO can contribute with targetable information about symptoms, and PRO questionnaires might be a valuable add on to clinical practice enabling a varied picture of patients’ symptoms during radiotherapy.

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Fig. 1
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Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Code availability

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

HNC:

Head and neck cancer

RT:

Radiotherapy

QoL:

Quality of life

DAHANCA:

Danish Head and Neck Cancer Group

PRO:

Patient-reported outcome

EORTC QLQ-H&N35:

European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire for Head and Neck Cancer module

FACT-H&N:

Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy General and Head and Neck

MDASI-HN:

M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory Head and Neck questionnaire

PRO-CTCAE:

Patient-Reported Outcomes Version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events with site-specific Head and Neck item

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Funding

The study was unfunded.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Cecilie Holländer-Mieritz and Helle Pappot shared last-authorship.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Emma Balch Steen-Olsen, Dag Rune Stormoen, Claus Andrup Kristensen, Ivan Richter Vogelius, Cecilie Holländer-Mieritz & Helle Pappot

Authors
  1. Emma Balch Steen-Olsen
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  2. Dag Rune Stormoen
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  3. Claus Andrup Kristensen
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  4. Ivan Richter Vogelius
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  5. Cecilie Holländer-Mieritz
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  6. Helle Pappot
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by EBS-O, CH-M, HP and DRS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by EBS-O and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emma Balch Steen-Olsen.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Ethical approval

The study received approval by the Danish Data Protection Agency (File number, VD-2018-300, I-Suite no. 6544). The study complied with all aspects of ethical standards of clinical research.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Steen-Olsen, E.B., Stormoen, D.R., Kristensen, C.A. et al. Patient-reported outcome during radiotherapy for head and neck cancer: the use of different PRO questionnaires. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 279, 4199–4206 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-022-07364-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-022-07364-0

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