Table 5.

Multivariate analysis for overall survival, disease free survival, and distant metastases

Overall survival	HR (95% CI)	p-value
FT Group
B-FT vs. NO-FT	6.0 (2.0 – 18.6)	0.0013
DA-FT vs. NO-FT	1.5 (0.4 – 5.4)
Age (years)
≥50 vs. < 50	2.1 (0.8 – 5.3)	0.1165
Smoking
<20 pack-years vs. never smoker	3.6 (0.8 – 16.9)	0.0182
≥20 pack-years vs. never smoker	5.0 (1.6 – 15.3)
Disease Free Survival
FT Group
B-FT vs. NO-FT	4.7 (1.7 – 13.1)	0.0017
DA-FT vs. NO-FT	1.3 (0.4 – 4.0)
Age (years)
≥50 vs. < 50	2.3 (1.0 – 5.4)	0.0619
Smoking
<20 pack-years vs. never smoker	2.2 (0.5 – 9.5)	0.0316
≥20 pack-years vs. never smoker	3.8 (1.4 – 10.6)
Distant Metastases Free Survival
Group
B-FT vs. NO-FT	0.91 (0.17 – 5.02)	0.9942
DA-FT vs. NO-FT	0.95 (0.21 – 4.27)
Age (years)
≥50 vs. < 50	3.7 (0.8 – 17.8)	0.1053

Abbreviations: B-FT Feeding tube placement before IMRT, DA-FT Feeding tube placement during or after IMRT, NO-FT No feeding tube, TLM Transoral laser microsurgery, CI Confidence interval.