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Longitudinal quality of life in Turkish patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to assess the quality of life and to define its determinants in patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy.

Method

This prospective study was performed in an outpatient clinic of radiation oncology with a sample of 54 consecutive patients. Interview forms—European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire and Head and Neck Module to measure quality of life, Radiation Therapy Oncology Group criteria to determine radiation toxicity, and Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment to assess nutritional status—were used to obtain personal and disease-related data before, at the end of radiotherapy, and 1 and 3 months post-therapy.

Results

It was determined that various subscales of functional and symptom scales of quality of life were deteriorated at the end of radiotherapy and started to improve at 1 month after treatment. However, dry mouth and sticky saliva symptom scales did not follow the same pattern, and they took more time to improve. Quality of life (QoL) was found to be worse in younger age, higher education, higher income level, type of cancer, advanced stage, presence of tracheostomy, chemoradiation, higher dose of RT, bad nutritional status, and radiation toxicity.

Conclusions

Our results emphasize the vital need of support for head and neck cancer patients during radiotherapy, especially during the first month.

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Acknowledgments

We express our gratitude to all the patients for their willingness to participate in our study. This study was supported by Istanbul University Scientific Research Foundation (project no. 4908).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MoH Okmeydanı Training and Research Hospital Oncology Clinic (formerly Istanbul University Hospital of Cerrahpasa Medical School Radiation Oncology Clinic), Istanbul, Turkey

    Esra Citak

  2. Department of Medical Nursing, Istanbul University Florence Nightingale School of Nursing, Istanbul, Turkey

    Zeliha Tulek

  3. I.U.Florence Nightingale Hemsirelik Fakultesi, Abidei Hurriyet Cd. 34387 Sisli, Istanbul, Turkey

    Zeliha Tulek

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  1. Esra Citak
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Correspondence to Zeliha Tulek.

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Citak, E., Tulek, Z. Longitudinal quality of life in Turkish patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy. Support Care Cancer 21, 2171–2183 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-013-1774-y

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