Table 5.
Functional Outcomes
| Outcome | Baseline |
6 Months |
12 Months |
24 Months |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of Patients | % | No. of Patients | % | No. of Patients | % | No. of Patients | % | |
| No. with MBS* | 47 | 36 | 29 | 26 | ||||
| No. who answered questionnaire† | 47 | 39 | 34 | 36 | ||||
| Follow-up time, months | ||||||||
| Mean | 6.4 | 12.3 | 24.7 | |||||
| Range | 4.3-9.0 | 9.6-14.6 | 21.8-31.2 | |||||
| Aspiration | ||||||||
| No | 46 | 98 | 34 | 94 | 28 | 97 | 24 | 92 |
| Yes | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| Feeding tube | ||||||||
| No | 43 | 91 | 33 | 85 | 31 | 91 | 35 | 97 |
| Yes | 4 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 3 |
| PSS-HN‡ Normalcy of Diet Scale | ||||||||
| Full diet (no restriction) | 35 | 75 | 10 | 26 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 28 |
| Full diet (liquid assist) | 2 | 4 | 8 | 21 | 19 | 56 | 20 | 56 |
| All meat | 2 | 5 | ||||||
| Raw carrots, celery | 3 | 8 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Dry bread and crackers | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | ||
| Soft, chewable foods | 4 | 9 | 12 | 31 | 5 | 15 | 5 | 14 |
| Soft, nonchewable foods | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Pureed foods | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| Warm liquids | ||||||||
| Cold liquids | 2 | 5 | ||||||
| Nonoral feeding (NPO) | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | ||||
Abbreviations: MBS, modified barium swallow; PSS-HN, Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck Cancer Patients; NPO, nothing by mouth.
*
One patient who underwent total laryngectomy 4 months after chemoradiotherapy was excluded from subsequent functional assessment.
†
Questionnaires were mailed to patients who missed MBS.
‡
Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck Cancer.