Assessing head and neck cancer patient outcome domains

Background. The purpose of this study was to assess the relative importance on patients' lives of multiple outcomes resulting from the management of h ead and neck cancer (HNC). Methods. HNC patients filled out a disease-specific quality of life (QOL) s urvey covering 5 domains (speech, eating, aesthetics, pain/discomfort, and social/role functioning). Logistic regression was used to determine which o f these domains best predicted the patients' response to a single, overall QOL assessment. Results. In univariate analyses, all 5 domains were significantly correlate d to QOL (p < .0001), with correlation coefficients ranging from .48 for ea ting to .64 for social/role functioning. Logistic regression indicated that speech and eating best predicted QOL (R-2 = .4647), With odds-ratios of 2. 96 for speech and 2.49 for eating. Conclusions. These data demonstrated that, for this group of patients, spee ch has the most impact on well-being, whereas eating has a substantial, unr elated influence. This is important information in counseling patients abou t treatment plans that have different levels of impairment. (C) 2000 John W iley & Sons, Inc.