Table 1.
Frequency table, average follow-up time, and average date of functional assessment within the first 90 days after treatment for response categories of the three measures in the PSS-HN assessment in the RTOG 9003 study
| Levels of Impairmenta | No. of Patients | Avg number of PY | % of total PY per scale | PSS-HN Assessment date (SD)b | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normalcy of Diet (N=650) | |||||
| Non-oral feeding | Highly impaired | 98 | 3.4 | 10.9 | 30.8 (13.2) |
| Cold liquids | Moderately impaired | 27 | 4.6 | 4.0 | 29.1 (13.9) |
| Warm liquids | “ ” | 44 | 3.6 | 5.1 | 30.5 (15.8) |
| Pureed foods | “ ” | 30 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 33.6 (15.2) |
| Soft foods requiring no chewing | “ ” | 86 | 4.4 | 12.4 | 30.9 (15.1) |
| Soft chewable foods | Modestly impaired | 186 | 5.3 | 32.0 | 35.1 (13.6) |
| Dry bread and crackers | “ ” | 34 | 4.8 | 5.3 | 30.3 (15.2) |
| Carrots, celery | “ ” | 10 | 6.3 | 2.1 | 36.7 (19.2) |
| All meat | “ ” | 36 | 4.9 | 5.8 | 39.4 (18.4) |
| Peanuts | “ ” | 4 | 3.7 | 0.5 | 29.3 (8.1) |
| Full Diet | Not impaired | 95 | 5.7 | 17.7 | 35.3 (14.2) |
| Public Eating (N=633) | |||||
| Always eats alone | Highly impaired | 48 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 32.8 (15.7) |
| Eats only at home with select persons | Moderately impaired | 172 | 4.2 | 24.3 | 30.3 (14.9) |
| Eats only in select places | “ ” | 95 | 4.5 | 14.2 | 33.9 (14.4) |
| Eats anywhere, may limit intake | Modestly impaired | 108 | 5.7 | 20.6 | 33.8 (15.3) |
| No restriction of place or food | Not impaired | 210 | 5.4 | 37.4 | 35.2 (13.8) |
| Understandability of Speech (N=645) | |||||
| Never understandable | Highly impaired | 12 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 36.5 (24.4) |
| Difficult to understand | “ ” | 14 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 41.4 (15.0) |
| Usually understandable, face to face | “ ” | 34 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 31.2 (17.7) |
| Understandable most of the time, some repetition | Moderately Impaired | 113 | 3.0 | 11.4 | 32.0 (14.2) |
| Always understandable | Not impaired | 472 | 5.5 | 86.1 | 33.3 (14.3) |
Abbreviations: RTOG=radiation therapy oncology group, PSS-HN=Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck cancer patients, AVG=average, PY=person-years, SD=standard deviation;
a
The levels correspond to the analytical groups used in proportional hazards modeling. The shading indicates where multiple PSS-HN response categories were grouped for analytical purposes.
b
The average number of days between the end of treatment and the first functional assessment by the PSS-HN.