Table 3.
Quality-of-life score at three years by treatment group. Data are mean (standard deviation), unless otherwise specified
| MRLN sparing RT | Standard RT | LS mean difference (95% CI) |
P value |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EORTC QLQ-C30* | ||||
| General QoL (the higher the better): | ||||
| Global health status | 85.1 (13.1) | 79.5 (19.8) | –5.6 (–9.1 to –2.0) | 0.002 |
| Physical functioning | 98.8 (3.9) | 97.4 (9.6) | –1.4 (–3.0 to 0.1) | 0.07 |
| Role functioning | 99.6 (2.6) | 94.0 (12.8) | –5.5 (–7.4 to –3.6) | <0.001 |
| Emotional functioning | 95.6 (9.3) | 95.6 (8.6) | –0.04 (–1.9 to 1.8) | 0.96 |
| Cognitive functioning | 95.4 (10.0) | 95.3 (10.6) | 0.02 (–2.2 to 2.2) | 0.98 |
| Social functioning | 96.6 (7.2) | 90.4 (16.4) | –6.2 (–8.9 to –3.6) | <0.001 |
| Symptom burden (the lower the better): | ||||
| Fatigue | 8.7 (14.2) | 16.6 (22.2) | 7.9 (4.0 to 11.8) | <0.001 |
| Nausea and vomiting | 1.3 (4.9) | 2.7 (10.0) | 1.4 (–0.3 to 3.0) | 0.11 |
| Pain | 4.3 (10.9) | 6.6 (12.9) | 2.4 (–0.2 to 4.9) | 0.07 |
| Dyspnoea | 3.5 (10.9) | 3.6 (11.5) | 0.08 (–2.3 to 2.4) | 0.95 |
| Insomnia | 9.5 (17.2) | 12.7 (20.7) | 3.3 (–0.7 to 7.3) | 0.11 |
| Appetite loss | 4.9 (14.5) | 7.3 (15.5) | 2.4 (–0.8 to 5.6) | 0.14 |
| Constipation | 3.9 (11.4) | 1.9 (7.7) | –2.2 (–4.3 to –0.05) | 0.045 |
| Diarrhoea | 0.8 (5.2) | 1.5 (6.9) | 0.7 (–0.6 to 2.0) | 0.31 |
| Financial difficulties | 12.3 (19.3) | 13.5 (19.5) | 1.2 (–2.9 to 5.4) | 0.56 |
| EORTC QLQ-H&N35† | ||||
| Symptom burden (the lower the better): | ||||
| Pain | 2.5 (6.3) | 3.4 (8.6) | 0.9 (–0.6 to 2.4) | 0.26 |
| Swallowing | 10.2 (12.4) | 21.2 (13.1) | 11.0 (8.4 to 13.6) | <0.001 |
| Sense problems | 4.1 (10.5) | 4.6 (10.1) | 0.4 (–1.7 to 2.5) | 0.69 |
| Speech problems | 2.0 (6.2) | 3.4 (7.8) | 1.4 (–0.1 to 2.8) | 0.06 |
| Trouble eating in social environments | 1.1 (6.1) | 1.6 (6.1) | 0.4 (–0.9 to 1.6) | 0.54 |
| Issues with social contact | 0.9 (4.6) | 1.3 (4.1) | 0.4 (–0.5 to 1.3) | 0.36 |
| Lower libido | 5.4 (12.0) | 6.0 (12.9) | 0.7 (–1.9 to 3.2) | 0.60 |
| Teeth | 1.1 (7.1) | 1.6 (7.0) | 0.5 (–1.0 to 1.9) | 0.54 |
| Difficulty opening mouth | 4.6 (13.1) | 5.5 (14.2) | 0.9 (–1.8 to 3.7) | 0.51 |
| Dry mouth | 28.5 (15.9) | 29.9 (15.2) | 1.3 (–1.9 to 4.5) | 0.41 |
| Sticky saliva | 28.0 (16.3) | 29.9 (15.2) | 2.0 (–1.3 to 5.2) | 0.23 |
| Coughing | 5.7 (12.6) | 6.7 (13.4) | 1.0 (–1.7 to 3.6) | 0.47 |
| Felt ill | 2.7 (9.8) | 3.5 (11.3) | 0.8 (–1.3 to 2.9) | 0.46 |
| Pain killers | 8.6 (28.1) | 8.3 (27.6) | –0.4 (–6.1 to 5.3) | 0.90 |
| Nutrition supplement | 8.6 (28.1) | 11.9 (32.5) | 3.3 (–2.9 to 9.5) | 0.30 |
| Feeding tube | 0.6 (7.6) | 1.0 (10.2) | 0.5 (–1.4 to 2.3) | 0.62 |
| Weight loss | 8.6 (28.1) | 14.0 (34.8) | 5.3 (–1.1 to 11.7) | 0.10 |
| Weight gain | 7.5 (26.4) | 7.8 (26.8) | 0.3 (–5.0 to 5.7) | 0.90 |
The mean differences were adjusted for the baseline values. A higher score represented greater symptom severity (on symptom domains), or better health status (on the global health status) or function (on functioning domains). CI=confidence interval; EORTC=European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer; MRLN=medial retropharyngeal lymph node; RT=radiotherapy; LS=least squares; QLQ-C30=Quality-of-Life Core 30 items; QLQ-H&N35=Quality-of-Life Head and Neck 35 items; QoL=quality of life.
*
N=162 for MRLN sparing RT and N=178 for standard RT.
†
N=174 for MRLN sparing RT and N=193 for standard RT.