scholarly journals Self‐Completion of the Patient‐Generated Subjective Global Assessment Short Form Is Feasible and Is Associated With Increased Awareness on Malnutrition Risk in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harriët Jager‐Wittenaar ◽  
Hester F. Bats ◽  
Bertine J. Welink‐Lamberts ◽  
Dorienke Gort‐van Dijk ◽  
Bernard F. A. M. Laan ◽  
...  
2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (16) ◽  
pp. 2754-2760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie A. Karvonen-Gutierrez ◽  
David L. Ronis ◽  
Karen E. Fowler ◽  
Jeffrey E. Terrell ◽  
Stephen B. Gruber ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine whether quality of life (QOL) scores predict survival among patients with head and neck cancer, controlling for demographic, health behavior, and clinical variables. Patients and Methods A self-administered questionnaire was given to 495 patients being treated for head and neck cancer while they were waiting to be seen for a clinic appointment. Data collected from the survey included demographics, health behaviors, and QOL as measured by Short Form-36 (SF-36) physical and mental component scores and the Head and Neck QOL scores. Clinical measures were collected by chart abstraction. Kaplan-Meier plots and univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the association between QOL scores and survival time. Results After controlling for age, time since diagnosis, marital status, education, tumor site and stage, comorbidities, and smoking, the SF-36 physical component score and three of the four Head and Neck QOL scales (pain, eating, and speech domains) were associated with survival. Controlling for the same variables, the SF-36 mental component score and the emotional domain of the Head and Neck QOL were not associated with survival. Conclusion QOL instruments may be valuable screening tools to identify patients who are at high risk for poor survival. Those with low QOL scores could be followed more closely, with the potential to identify recurrence earlier and perform salvage treatments, thereby possibly improving survival for this group of patients.


2016 ◽  
Vol 130 (S2) ◽  
pp. S32-S40 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Talwar ◽  
R Donnelly ◽  
R Skelly ◽  
M Donaldson

AbstractNutritional support and intervention is an integral component of head and neck cancer management. Patients can be malnourished at presentation, and the majority of patients undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer will need nutritional support. This paper summarises aspects of nutritional considerations for this patient group and provides recommendations for the practising clinician.Recommendations• A specialist dietitian should be part of the multidisciplinary team for treating head and neck cancer patients throughout the continuum of care as frequent dietetic contact has been shown to have enhanced outcomes. (R)• Patients with head and neck cancer should be nutritionally screened using a validated screening tool at diagnosis and then repeated at intervals through each stage of treatment. (R)• Patients at high risk should be referred to the dietitian for early intervention. (R)• Offer treatment for malnutrition and appropriate nutrition support without delay given the adverse impact on clinical, patient reported and financial outcomes. (R)• Use a validated nutrition assessment tool (e.g. scored Patient Generated–Subjective Global Assessment or Subjective Global Assessment) to assess nutritional status. (R)• Offer pre-treatment assessment prior to any treatment as intervention aims to improve, maintain or reduce decline in nutritional status of head and neck cancer patients who have malnutrition or are at risk of malnutrition. (G)• Patients identified as well-nourished at baseline but whose treatment may impact on their future nutritional status should receive dietetic assessment and intervention at any stage of the pathway. (G)• Aim for energy intakes of at least 30 kcal/kg/day. As energy requirements may be elevated post-operatively, monitor weight and adjust intake as required. (R)• Aim for energy and protein intakes of at least 30 kcal/kg/day and 1.2 g protein/kg/day in patients receiving radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. Patients should have their weight and nutritional intake monitored regularly to determine whether their energy requirements are being met. (R)• Perform nutritional assessment of cancer patients frequently. (G)• Initiate nutritional intervention early when deficits are detected. (G)• Integrate measures to modulate cancer cachexia changes into the nutritional management. (G)• Start nutritional therapy if undernutrition already exists or if it is anticipated that the patient will be unable to eat for more than 7 days. Enteral nutrition should also be started if an inadequate food intake (60 per cent of estimated energy expenditure) is anticipated for more than 10 days. (R)• Use standard polymeric feed. (G)• Consider gastrostomy insertion if long-term tube feeding is necessary (greater than four weeks). (R)• Monitor nutritional parameters regularly throughout the patient's cancer journey. (G)• Pre-operative:○ Patients with severe nutritional risk should receive nutrition support for 10–14 days prior to major surgery even if surgery has to be delayed. (R)○ Consider carbohydrate loading in patients undergoing head and neck surgery. (R)• Post-operative:○ Initiate tube feeding within 24 hours of surgery. (R)○ Consider early oral feeding after primary laryngectomy. (R)• Chyle Leak:○ Confirm chyle leak by analysis of drainage fluid for triglycerides and chylomicrons. (R)○ Commence nutritional intervention with fat free or medium chain triglyceride nutritional supplements either orally or via a feeding tube. (R)○ Consider parenteral nutrition in severe cases when drainage volume is consistently high. (G)• Weekly dietetic intervention is offered for all patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment to prevent weight loss, increase intake and reduce treatments interruptions. (R)• Offer prophylactic tube feeding as part of locally agreed guidelines, where oral nutrition is inadequate. (R)• Offer nutritional intervention (dietary counselling and/or supplements) for up to three months after treatment. (R)• Patients who have completed their rehabilitation and are disease free should be offered healthy eating advice as part of a health and wellbeing clinic. (G)• Quality of life parameters including nutritional and swallowing, should be measured at diagnosis and at regular intervals post-treatment. (G)


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e17501-e17501
Author(s):  
Mario Airoldi ◽  
Oliviero Ostellino ◽  
Luca Raimondo ◽  
Giancarlo Pecorari ◽  
Pierfrancesco Franco ◽  
...  

e17501 Background: knowledge is still lacking about head and neck patients’ unmet needs and their association with the other debilitating symptomatologies that worsen Quality of Life (QoL), compliance to treatments and prognosis. The aim of this research, so, it was to investigate the unmet needs of this type of patients in accordance with sympomts. Beside this study tried to evaluate if patients’ needs were correctly understood by their caregivers, nurses and oncologist. Methods: we surveyed 100 patients (80 men and 20 women) with head and neck cancer, during the active phase of chemotherapy treatmet,58 caregivers’ patients, nurses and the oncologist. The axious symptomatology and the depressive symptomatology were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Distress was assessed by the Distress Thermometer (DT). Unmet needs were assessed from patients and their caregivers by Supportive Care Needs Survey-short Form (SCNS-SF34); nurses and the oncologist had to answer only to the 5 questionnaire’s macro-areas. Pain was assessed using the answer given to the SCNS-SF34’s first item. Results: having unmet needs in the psychological area is associated with the presence of symptoms in the preceding 24 hours (c2 = 10.213 , p = .001). Unmet needs in the communicative and informative area are associated with pain (c2 = 5.260 , p = .022). Unmet needs in physical conditions and daily living area are associated with pain (c2 = 9.962 , p = .002) and the presence of symptoms in the preceding 24 hours (c2 = 6.760 , p = .009). Unmet needs in patient support and health care area is associated with: distress (c2 = 4.459 , p = .035), anxious symptomatology (c2 = 4.071 , p = .044) and pain (c2 = 14.733 , p = .000). Unmet needs in sexuality area are associated with anxious symptomatology (c2 = 7.328 , p = .007) and pain (c2 = 4.833 , p = .028). Feelings about death and dying are associated with anxious symptomatology (c2 = 6.451 , p = .011) and depressive symptomatology (c2 = 5.317 , p = .021). Caregivers and patients both detect the presence of unmet needs in many areas. Conclusions: there tare several associations found between unmet needs and main symptomatologies that negatively impact with patient’s QoL and prognosis.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun-Wen Hsueh ◽  
Cheng-Chou Lai ◽  
Chia-Yen Hung ◽  
Yu-Ching Lin ◽  
Chang-Hsien Lu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) treatment incompletion is a known negative prognosticator for patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Malnutrition is a common phenomenon which leads to treatment interruption in patients with HNC. We aimed to compare the performance of three nutritional tools in predicting treatment incompletion in patients with HNC undergoing definitive CCRT. Material and methods Three nutritional assessment tools, Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF), Malnutritional Universal Screening Tool (MUST), and Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002), were prospectively assessed prior to CCRT for HNC patients. Patients were stratified into either normal nutrition or malnourished groups using different nutrition tools. Treatment incompletion and treatment-related toxicities associated with CCRT were recorded. Results A total of 461 patients were included in the study; malnourished rates ranged from 31.0–51.0%. The CCRT incompletion rates were 4.9–6.3% and 14.5–18.2% for normal nutrition patients and malnourished patients, respectively. The tools had significant correlations with each other (Pearson correlation 0.801–0.837, p < 0.001 for all) and accurately predicted the incompletion of CCRT. MNA-SF had the highest performance in predicting treatment-related toxicity, including emergency room visits, need for hospitalization, any grade III or higher hematological adverse events, and critical body weight loss, compared to the other tools. Conclusions MNA-SF, MUST, and NRS2002 were all shown to be competent tools for malnutrition recognition and prediction of treatment incompletion, as well as treatment-related toxicity, in HNC patients undergoing CCRT. We suggest implementing nutritional assessment prior to treatment to improve the rate of treatment completion and to reduce treatment-related toxicity in HNC patients.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianxia LYU ◽  
Li Yin ◽  
Ping Cheng ◽  
Bin Li ◽  
Shanshan Peng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: This study aimed to translate the English version of the supportive care needs scale of head and neck cancer patients (SCNS-HNC) questionnaire into Mandarin and to test the reliability and validity of the SCNS-SF34 and SCNS-HNC module in head and neck cancer patients. Methods: The Mandarin version of the Supportive Care Needs Survey Short-Form (SCNS-SF34) and SCNS-HNC scales were used to assess 206 patients with head and neck cancer in Chengdu, China. Among them, 51 patients were re-tested 2 or 3 days after the first survey. The internal consistency of the scale was evaluated by Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the retest reliability of the scale was evaluated by retest correlation coefficient r, the structural validity of the scale was evaluated by exploratory factor analysis, and the ceiling and floor effects of the scale were evaluated. Results: The Mandarin version of the SCNS-HNC had Cronbach's alpha coefficients greater than 0.700 (0.737 ≤ 0.962) for all of the domains. Except for the psychological demand dimension (r=0.674) of the SCNS-SF34 scale, the retest reliability of the other domains was greater than 0.8. Three common factors were extracted by exploratory factor analysis, and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 64.39%. Conclusions: The Mandarin version of the SCNS-SF34 and SCNS-HNC demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity and is able to measure the supportive care needs of Chinese patients with head and neck cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianxia Lyu ◽  
Li Yin ◽  
Ping Cheng ◽  
Bin Li ◽  
Shanshan Peng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background This study aimed to translate the English version of the supportive care needs scale of head and neck cancer patients (SCNS-HNC) questionnaire into Mandarin and to test the reliability and validity of the SCNS-SF34 and SCNS-HNC module in head and neck cancer patients. Methods The Mandarin version of the Supportive Care Needs Survey Short-Form (SCNS-SF34) and SCNS-HNC scales were used to assess 206 patients with head and neck cancer in Chengdu, China. Among them, 51 patients were re-tested 2 or 3 days after the first survey. The internal consistency of the scale was evaluated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, the retest reliability of the scale was evaluated by retest correlation coefficient r, the structural validity of the scale was evaluated by exploratory factor analysis, and the ceiling and floor effects of the scale were evaluated. Results The Mandarin version of the SCNS-HNC had Cronbach’s alpha coefficients greater than 0.700 (0.737 ≤ 0.962) for all of the domains. Except for the psychological demand dimension (r = 0.674) of the SCNS-SF34 scale, the retest reliability of the other domains was greater than 0.8. Three common factors were extracted by exploratory factor analysis, and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 64.39%. Conclusions The Mandarin version of the SCNS-SF34 and SCNS-HNC demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity and is able to measure the supportive care needs of Chinese patients with head and neck cancer. Trial registration ChiCTR, ChiCTR1900026635. Registered 16 October 2019- Retrospectively registered.


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