Table 1.
Patient characteristics for the three patient groups
| Characteristic | No feeding tube (n = 42) | Tube before RT (n = 23) | Tube during/after RT (n = 32) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age at diagnosis | ||||
| Median (range) (y) | 54 (32 – 73) | 57 (48 – 67) | 54 (37 – 72) | 0.35 |
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 40 (95.2%) | 21 (91.3%) | 31 (96.9%) | 0.72 |
| Female | 2 (4.8%) | 2 (8.7%) | 1 (3.1%) | |
| Race | ||||
| Caucasian | 40 (95.2%) | 22 (95.7%) | 32 (100%) | 0.46 |
| African-American | 2 (4.8%) | 1 (4.3%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Alcohol Use | ||||
| Rarely or Never | 22 (56.4%) | 13 (56.5%) | 17 (53.1%) | 0.51 |
| Occasional | 8 (20.5%) | 3 (13.0%) | 10 (31.3%) | |
| Heavy | 9 (23.1%) | 7 (30.4%) | 5 (15.6%) | |
| Smoking Status | ||||
| Never Smoker | 21 (51.2%) | 8 (34.8%) | 9 (28.1%) | 0.29 |
| <20 pack-years | 5 (12.2%) | 4 (17.4%) | 4 (12.5%) | |
| ≥20 pack-years | 15 (36.6%) | 11 (47.8%) | 19 (59.4%) | |
| ACE-27 Score | ||||
| None/Mild | 38 (95.0%) | 15 (68.2%) | 23 (74.2%) | 0.0076 |
| Moderate/Severe | 2 (5.0%) | 7 (31.8%) | 8 (25.8%) | |
| BMI at time of tube placement | ||||
| Median (range) | N/A | 26.5 (20.0 – 31.0) | 24.5 (15.7 – 41.2) | 0.12 |
| Rate of weight loss prior to IMRT (− lbs/mo loss; + is gain) | ||||
| Median (range) | −6.9 (−19.0 – +5.0) | −10.6 (−20 – +0.6) | −1.2 (−12 – +2.8) | 0.36 |
| Swallow Studies | ||||
| Aspiration | 10 (76.9%) | 18 (85.7%) | 14 (77.8%) | 0.74 |
| No aspiration | 3 (23.1%) | 3 (14.3%) | 4 (22.2%) |
Abbreviations: ACE-27 Adult Comorbidity Evaluation-27.
Bold p-values indicate statistical significane at p < 0.05.