Eating ability in head and neck cancer patients after treatment with chemoradiation: A 12-month follow-up study accounting for dropout

• Published in: Head & neck Vol. 25; no. 12; pp. 1034 - 1041
• Main Authors: Rademaker, Alfred W., Vonesh, Edward F., Logemann, Jeri A., Pauloski, Barbara Roa, Liu, Dachao, Lazarus, Cathy L., Newman, Lisa A., May, Annette Hamner, MacCracken, Ellen, Gaziano, Joy, Stachowiak, Linda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.12.2003; John Wiley & Sons
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; chemoradiation; Combined Modality Therapy; dropout; dysphagia; Eating - physiology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; generalized linear models; head and neck cancer; Head and Neck Neoplasms - drug therapy; Head and Neck Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Otorhinolaryngology (head neck, general aspects and miscellaneous); Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Patient Dropouts; Recovery of Function - physiology; Time Factors; Tumors; Human; generalized linear models; Squamous cell carcinoma; Prognosis; head and neck cancer; dysphagia; Malignant tumor; Radiotherapy; Feeding; Chemotherapy; Capacity; Follow up study; dropout; Head and neck; ENT disease; Combined treatment; chemoradiation
• ISSN: 1043-3074; 1097-0347
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.10317

Background. Head and neck cancer patients treated with chemoradiation have difficulty eating a normal diet. This study was designed to characterize eating ability over 12 months after chemoradiation treatment. Analyses take patient dropout into account. Methods: Two hundred fifty‐five patients with head and neck cancer treated with chemoradiation were followed for 12 months. Eating ability was analyzed using generalized linear model methods that accounted for non‐ignorable dropout. Results. Eating ability was compromised immediately after treatment and improved over 12 months to near pretreatment levels. Ability to eat at most 50% of the diet orally did not return to baseline levels (p < .05). However, the percent of patients eating a normal diet did return to baseline levels. Accounting for dropout modified the results, but the pattern of significance was similar. Conclusions. Treatment of head and neck cancer with chemoradiation has a significant effect on eating ability, which improves after 12 months after treatment. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 25: 000–000, 2003