Clinical importance of quality of life measures in head and neck cancer

Kazi, Rehan; Sayed, Suhail I.; Dwivedi, RC

doi:10.4103/0019-509x.64705

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…We read with great interest the guest editorial by Kazi et al, [1] in the July-September 2010 issue of your journal. The rehabilitation of head and neck cancer patients is a subject of increasing importance.…”

Section: Sirmentioning

confidence: 94%

Quality of life in head and neck cancer patients: A physiotherapist′s perspective

2014

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Sir,We read with great interest the guest editorial by Kazi et al., [1] in the July-September 2010 issue of your journal. The rehabilitation of head and neck cancer patients is a subject of increasing importance. A physiotherapist can play an important role in the rehabilitation of a head and neck cancer patient thus improving the quality of life.Oral mucositis a common complication of cancer treatment in head and neck cancer patients leads to difficulty in tolerating food, affects speech and self esteem thus compromising patients' response to treatment which further affects the quality of life. It is therefore very important to prevent or treat oral mucositis. From the physiotherapy perspective, a study done in our institute showed that low level helium-neon laser therapy during chemo-radiotherapy was found to be effective in preventing and treating oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients. [2] In addition head and neck cancer patients undergoing chemo-radiotherapy also exhibit decreased functional capacity and quality of life due to the adverse effects of chemo-radiotherapy like cancer related fatigue. A recent Cochrane review concluded that a structured exercise program during chemo-radiotherapy improves the quality of life in patients undergoing chemo-radiotherapy. [3] Unpublished data from a study done in our institute shows that a structured and individualized exercise program during chemo-radiotherapy leads to improvement in the physical as well as mental component on the medical outcomes study Short Form-36 questionnaire. Exercise also improves the psychological state of the patient by infusing self confidence and a feeling of well being. Thus a structured exercise program can play an important role in improving the functional capacity and quality of life in head and neck cancer patients receiving chemo-radiotherapy. A physiotherapy program can also play an important role in improving the decreased neck range of motion often seen in post surgical cases. Thus a structured physiotherapy program during chemo-radiotherapy and post surgery can play a major role in improving the quality of life in head and neck cancer patients by preventing complications like oral mucositis, decreased neck range of motion and cancer related fatigue which leads to decreased functional capacity.

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Section: Sirmentioning

confidence: 94%

Quality of life in head and neck cancer patients: A physiotherapist′s perspective

2014

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“…The treatment options presented to the patient may not meet their expectations, which may affect adherence to the treatment and could adversely affect the patient’s physical, mental and emotional satisfaction with care. 111 Assessing HRQOL and functional status may assist in circumventing future problems with treatment choice and ultimately improve the health of PAD patients with claudication.…”

Section: Clinical Relevance Of Hrqol and Functional Status Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of functional status and quality of life in claudication

Mays

Casserly

Kohrt

et al. 2011

Journal of Vascular Surgery

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Background Treadmill walking is commonly used to evaluate walking impairment and efficacy of treatment for intermittent claudication (IC) in clinical and research settings. Although this is an important measure, it does not provide information about how patients perceive the effects of their treatments on more global measures of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Methods PubMed/Medline was searched to find publications about the most commonly used questionnaires to assess functional status and/or general and disease-specific HRQOL in patients with PAD who experience IC. Inclusion criteria for questionnaires were based on existence of a body of literature in symptomatic PAD. Results Six general questionnaires and 7 disease-specific questionnaires are included with details about the number of domains covered and how each tool is scored. The Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 item questionnaire and Walking Impairment Questionnaire are currently the most used general and disease-specific questionnaires at baseline and following treatment for IC, respectively. Conclusions The use of tools which assess functional status and HRQOL has importance in both the clinical and research areas to assess treatment efficacy from the patient perspective. Therefore, assessing HRQOL in addition to treadmill-measured walking ability provides insight as to effects of treatments on patient outcomes and may help guide therapy.

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“…Hazánk nemzetközi összehasonlításban is sajnálatosan "előkelő helyet" foglal el ezen megbetegedések incidenciája és prevalenciája szempontjából, amihez minden bizonnyal hozzájárul a dohányzás és alkoholfogyasztás továbbra is jelentős volta [2]. Annak ellenére, hogy egyre fejlettebb terápiás lehetőségekkel rendelkezünk, a daganat és kezelése még mindig jelentős szenvedéssel jár, gyakran a túlélők körében is [3,4]. A túlélés önmagában tehát csupán részeredménynek tekinthető, amennyiben az nem jár a megfelelő életminőséggel.…”

Section: Rövidítésekunclassified