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High symptom burden prior to radiation therapy for head and neck cancer: a patient-reported outcomes study.

ABSTRACT: As a first step toward developing effective strategies to control symptoms associated with head and neck cancer (HNC) and its treatment, we sought to describe the pattern of symptoms experienced before radiation therapy.Subjects completed the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck Module before beginning radiation therapy.In all, 270 patients participated. Symptom severity and interference varied between treatment-naïve patients and those with prior treatment. Cluster analyses revealed that 33% of patients had high symptom burden. Symptoms most often rated moderate-to-severe were fatigue, sleep disturbance, distress, pain, and problems chewing and swallowing. Poorer performance status, higher T classification, and receipt of previous treatment correlated with higher symptom burden.A substantial proportion of patients were experiencing high symptom burden. Because few interventions currently exist for several of the most problematic symptoms, research in symptom reduction that targets the pattern of symptoms described here is greatly needed.

SUBMITTER: Gunn GB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3788079 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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High symptom burden prior to radiation therapy for head and neck cancer: a patient-reported outcomes study.

Gunn G Brandon GB Mendoza Tito R TR Fuller Clifton D CD Gning Ibrahima I Frank Steven J SJ Beadle Beth M BM Hanna Ehab Y EY Lu Charles C Cleeland Charles S CS Rosenthal David I DI

Head & neck 20121120 10

<h4>Background</h4>As a first step toward developing effective strategies to control symptoms associated with head and neck cancer (HNC) and its treatment, we sought to describe the pattern of symptoms experienced before radiation therapy.<h4>Methods</h4>Subjects completed the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck Module before beginning radiation therapy.<h4>Results</h4>In all, 270 patients participated. Symptom severity and interference varied between treatment-naïve patients and those w ...[more]

PMID: 23169304

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Project description:PurposeTo identify which patient-reported outcomes (PROs) may be most improved through adaptive radiation therapy (ART) with the goal of reducing toxicity incidence among head and neck cancer patients.MethodsOne hundred fifty-five head and neck cancer patients receiving radical VMAT (chemo)radiotherapy (66-70 Gy in 30-35 fractions) completed the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory, MD Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI), and Xerostomia Questionnaire while attending routine follow-up clinics between June-October 2019. Hierarchical clustering characterized symptom endorsement. Conventional statistical approaches indicated associations between dose and commonly reported symptoms. These associations, and the potential benefit of interfractional dose corrections, were further explored via logistic regression.ResultsRadiotherapy-related symptoms were commonly reported (dry mouth, difficulty swallowing/chewing). Clustering identified three patient subgroups reporting: none/mild symptoms for most items (60.6% of patients); moderate/severe symptoms affecting some aspects of general well-being (32.9%); and moderate/severe symptom reporting for most items (6.5%). Clusters of PRO items broadly consisted of acute toxicities, general well-being, and head and neck-specific symptoms (xerostomia, dysphagia). Dose-PRO relationships were strongest between delivered pharyngeal constrictor Dmean and patient-reported dysphagia, with MDADI composite scores (mean ± SD) of 25.7 ± 18.9 for patients with Dmean <50 Gy vs. 32.4 ± 17.1 with Dmean ≥50 Gy. Based on logistic regression models, during-treatment dose corrections back to planned values may confer ≥5% decrease in the absolute risk of self-reported physical dysphagia symptoms ≥1 year post-treatment in 1.2% of patients, with a ≥5% decrease in relative risk in 23.3% of patients.ConclusionsPatient-reported dysphagia symptoms are strongly associated with delivered dose to the pharyngeal constrictor. Dysphagia-focused ART may provide the greatest toxicity benefit to head and neck cancer patients, and represent a potential new direction for ART, given that the existing ART literature has focused almost exclusively on xerostomia reduction.

Project description:Accurate documentation of patient symptoms in the electronic medical record (EMR) is important for high-quality patient care.To explore inconsistencies between patient self-report on an Eye Symptom Questionnaire (ESQ) and documentation in the EMR.This investigation was an observational study in comprehensive ophthalmology and cornea clinics at an academic institution among a convenience sample of 192 consecutive eligible patients, of whom 30 declined participation. Patients were recruited at the Kellogg Eye Center from October 1, 2015, to January 31, 2016. Patients were eligible to be included in the study if they were 18 years or older.Concordance of symptoms reported on an ESQ with data recorded in the EMR. Agreement of symptom report was analyzed using ? statistics and McNemar tests. Disagreement was defined as a negative symptom report or no mention of a symptom in the EMR for patients who reported moderate to severe symptoms on the ESQ. Logistic regression was used to investigate if patient factors, physician characteristics, or diagnoses were associated with the probability of disagreement for symptoms of blurry vision, pain or discomfort, and redness.A total of 162 patients (324 eyes) were included. The mean (SD) age of participants was 56.6 (19.4) years, 62.3% (101 of 162) were female, and 84.9% (135 of 159) were white. At the participant level, 33.8% (54 of 160) had discordant reporting of blurry vision between the ESQ and EMR. Likewise, documentation was discordant for reporting glare (48.1% [78 of 162]), pain or discomfort (26.5% [43 of 162]), and redness (24.7% [40 of 162]), with poor to fair agreement (? range, -0.02 to 0.42). Discordance of symptom reporting was more frequently characterized by positive reporting on the ESQ and lack of documentation in the EMR (Holm-adjusted McNemar P?<?.03 for 7 of 8 symptoms except for blurry vision [P?=?.59]). Return visits at which the patient reported blurry vision on the ESQ had increased odds of not reporting the symptom in the EMR compared with new visits (odds ratio, 5.25; 95% CI, 1.69-16.30; Holm-adjusted P?=?.045).Symptom reporting was inconsistent between patient self-report on an ESQ and documentation in the EMR, with symptoms more frequently recorded on a questionnaire. These results suggest that documentation of symptoms based on EMR data may not provide a comprehensive resource for clinical practice or "big data" research.

Dataset Information

High symptom burden prior to radiation therapy for head and neck cancer: a patient-reported outcomes study.

Publications

High symptom burden prior to radiation therapy for head and neck cancer: a patient-reported outcomes study.

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