Table 4.
Time course of EORTC-QLQ-H&N35 scores.
| Parameter | Pretreatment (n = 58) | Before discharge (n = 46) | 3 months after discharge (n = 37) | 6 months after discharge (n = 39) | 1 year after discharge (n = 34) | 2 years after discharge (n = 33) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symptom items | ||||||
| Pain | 16.7 (11.7–21.6) | 23.4 (17.9–29.0) | 17.8 (11.9–23.7) | 16.4 (10.6–22.1) | 15.9 (9.8–22.0) | 9.1 (3.0–15.3)∗ |
| Swallowing | 22.1 (15.5–28.6)∗ | 35.2 (28.0–42.4) | 27.8 (20.4–35.3) | 27.5 (20.2–34.8) | 26.0 (18.3–33.8) | 23.2 (15.5–31.0)∗ |
| Senses problems | 13.5 (6.0–21.0)∗ | 36.5 (28.1–44.9) | 33.7 (24.9–42.5) | 32.0 (23.3–40.6) | 28.0 (18.9–37.2) | 19.0 (9.9–28.2)∗ |
| Speech problems | 31.0 (19.7–42.4) | 38.5 (25.6–51.4) | 29.5 (15.7–43.3) | 29.9 (16.4–43.3) | 30.9 (16.6–45.2) | 42.6 (28.2–57.1) |
| Trouble with social eating | 24.3 (19.0–29.7)∗ | 38.3 (32.4–44.2) | 30.9 (24.7–37.1) | 31.1 (25.0–37.2) | 28.7 (22.2–35.1) | 25.6 (19.2–32.1)∗ |
| Trouble with social contact | 17.8 (12.0–23.6)∗ | 29.9 (23.3–36.4) | 24.5 (17.7–31.1) | 19.9 (13.3–26.4) | 18.4 (11.4–25.3)∗ | 14.2 (7.3–21.1)∗ |
| Less sexuality | 35.4 (25.5–45.4) | 40.9 (30.0–51.9) | 43.7 (32.4–55.0) | 44.6 (33.6–55.7) | 42.3 (30.6–53.9) | 51.4 (39.7–63.1) |
| Teeth | 14.4 (7.5–21.2) | 16.9 (9.2–24.5) | 23.4 (15.4–31.4) | 16.6 (8.8–24.4) | 17.5 (9.2–25.8) | 19.0 (10.7–27.4) |
| Opening mouth | 16.6 (9.2–24.2) | 19.5 (11.4–27.7) | 21.0 (12.4–29.6) | 18.7 (10.2–27.1) | 21.9 (13.0–30.8) | 16.2 (7.2–25.2) |
| Dry mouth | 27.6 (18.9–36.2)∗ | 53.8 (44.4–63.2) | 57.4 (47.4–67.4) | 53.3 (43.4–63.1) | 50.8 (40.6–61.1) | 47.7 (37.3–58.0) |
| Sticky saliva | 31.6 (23.0–40.2)∗ | 51.6 (42.1–61.1) | 48.2 (38.1–58.3) | 41.2 (31.3–51.1) | 43.0 (32.6–53.4) | 39.9 (29.3–50.4) |
| Coughing | 22.4 (14.9–29.9)∗ | 39.8 (31.5–48.1) | 31.7 (23.0–40.5) | 33.3 (24.7–41.9) | 31.2 (22.2–40.3) | 23.6 (14.5–32.7)∗ |
| Felt ill | 32.7 (23.4–42.1) | 41.2 (30.8–52.0) | 38.4 (27.1–49.8) | 32.5 (21.4–43.6) | 29.7 (18.0–41.5) | 28.5 (16.6–40.4) |
| Additional items | ||||||
| Pain killers | 36.2 (25.0–47.4) | 54.9 (42.1–67.7) | 28.6 (14.9–42.3)∗ | 15.3 (1.9–28.7)∗ | 18.5 (4.3–32.7)∗ | 10.7 (−3.7-25.0)∗ |
| Nutritional supplements | 22.4 (10.7–34.2) | 37.1 (23.8–50.5) | 30.7 (16.4–45.0) | 23.7 (9.7–37.6) | 35.9 (21.1–50.7) | 26.0 (11.0–40.9) |
| Feeding tube | 3.4 (−1.7-8.6)∗ | 14.1 (8.2–20.0) | 1.4 (−5.0-7.7)∗ | 3.0 (−3.2-9.2) | 3.8 (−2.8-10.4) | 0.4 (−6.3-7.0)∗ |
| Weight loss | 41.4 (29.6–53.2) | 52.3 (38.4–66.1) | 25.2 (10.7–39.8)∗ | 20.4 (6.2–34.6)∗ | 21.9 (6.8–37.0)∗ | 24.0 (9.4–40.0)∗ |
| Weight gain | 12.3 (1.5–23.2) | 14.8 (2.2–27.4) | 37.8 (24.4–51.3) | 28.7 (15.7–41.8) | 20.5 (6.5–34.5) | 33.4 (19.2–47.6) |
Values are shown as the mean (95% confidence interval), ∗P < 0.05 vs before discharge.