Quality of life during early radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer and pain

Figures & data

Table 1 Types of tumors found among the 54 patients

Types of tumors	Number (%)
Oral cavity
Tongue	8 (14.6)
Gingiva	5 (9.0)
Hard palate	1 (1.8)
Other oral cavity cancer	1 (1.8)
Pharynx
Tonsillar	13 (23.9)
Base of tongue	6 (10.9)
Larynx
Larynx	5 (9.0)
Glottis	1 (1.8)
Other types
Nasopharynx	1 (1.8)
Salivary glands	8 (14.6)
Thyroid	1 (1.8)
Lip	1 (1.8)
Cancer of unknown primary location	4 (7.2)

Table 2 Sociodemographic characteristics of the 54 patients

Variables	Number (%)
Age (years)
≤65	23 (42.6)
>65	31 (57.4)
Sex
Men	36 (66.7)
Women	18 (33.3)
Living situation
Cohabitant	35 (63.6)
Non-cohabitant	20 (36.4)
Education
Elementary school	10 (18.2)
Secondary upper school/vocational training	23 (41.8)
University degree	22 (40.0)
Smoking habits
Non-smoker	23 (41.8)
Smoker	9 (16.3)
Ex-smoker	23 (41.8)

Table 3 Distribution of mean values (±standard deviations) and comparisons among the examined variables in relation to the sociodemographic characteristics of the 54 patients

Variables	EQ-5D	EQ-VAS	BPI intensity	BPI interference	HAD-anxiety	HAD-depression	PCS
All patients	0.818 (±0.23)	77.27 (±17.53)	1.39 (±1.68)	1.04 (±1.34)	3.47 (±3.47)	2.72 (±3.00)	8.88 (±9.67)
Age (years)
≤65	0.770 (±0.29)	76.83 (±15.91)	1.13 (±1.56)	1.00 (±1.41)	4.27 (±3.44)	2.91 (±2.56)	8.04 (±7.67)
>65	0.854 (±0.18)	77.62 (±19.00)	1.57 (±1.77)	1.06 (±1.31)	2.90 (±3.45)	2.58 (±3.31)	9.55 (±11.10)
Comparisona (p-value)	0.200	0.873	0.342	0.871	0.160	0.699	0.582
Sex
Men	0.830 (±02.26)	77.50 (±17.90)	1.40 (±1.64)	1.17 (±1.50)	3.43 (±3.84)	3.00 (±3.29)	9.11 (±9.11)
Women	0.793 (±0.20)	76.83 (±17.34)	1.36 (±1.81)	0.76 (±0.91)	3.56 (±2.75)	2.17 (±2.33)	8.38 (±11.15)
Comparisona (p-value)	0.588	0.898	0.928	0.315	0.901	0.344	0.803
Living situation
Cohabitant	0.812 (±0.25)	77.18 (±18.03)	1.52 (±1.78)	1.25 (±1.47)	4.09 (±3.70)	3.06 (±3.39)	10.68 (±10.87)
Non-cohabitant	0.830 (±0.21)	77.44 (±17.06)	1.14 (±1.49)	0.63 (±0.96)	2.37 (±2.79)	2.11 (±2.08)	5.50 (±5.72)
Comparisona (p-value)	0.791	0.959	0.429	0.118	0.084	0.272	0.066
Education
Elementary school	0.752 (±0.23)	71.50 (±18.72)	2.32 (±1.62)	1.67 (±1.39)	3.40 (±2.91)	3.90 (±2.33)	14.67 (±13.90)
Secondary upper school/vocational training	0.804 (±0.28)	78.90 (±21.74)	0.96 (±1.70)	0.87 (±1.49)	4.52 (±4.37)	3.38 (±3.83)	8.23 (±8.48)
University degree	0.863 (±0.20)	78.41 (±12.22)	1.38 (±1.59)	0.94 (±1.14)	2.50 (±2.46)	1.55 (±1.87)	7.10 (±1.19)
Comparisonb (p-value)	0.446	0.519	0.106	0.302	0.163	0.048	0.133
Smoking habits
Non-smoker	0.836 (±0.23)	79.33 (±13.35)	0.82 (±1.10)	0.71 (±0.92)	2.90 (±2.95)	2.38 (±2.11)	8.14 (±10.01)
Smoker	0.758 (±0.25)	69.56 (±19.41)	1.87 (±1.94)	1.21 (±1.54)	2.89 (±2.76)	3.44 (±1.94)	5.25 (±4.95)
Ex-smoker	0.825 (±0.25)	78.45 (±20.06)	1.74 (±1.94)	1.27 (±1.58)	4.22 (±4.11)	2.74 (±3.95)	10.95 (±10.44)
Comparisonb (p-value)	0.703	0.351	0.118	0.369	0.401	0.681	0.328

Notes:

a Student’s t-tests were used for the comparisons;

b one-way analysis of variance was used for the comparisons. Data presented as mean (SD).

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; EQ-5D, Euro QoL-5 dimension questionnaire; EQ-VAS, the European quality of life vertical²⁵ visual analog scale; BPI, brief pain inventory; HAD, hospital anxiety and depression scale; PCS, pain catastrophizing scale.

Table 4 Bivariate correlations and unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models of EQ-5D

Variables	Correlations with EQ-5D (r)	p-value	Regression coefficients		p-value	R^2
			Unstandardized (95% CI)	Standardized
RLM1						34.7%
BPI intensity	−0.502	<0.001	−0.050 (−0.093, −0.008)	−0.341	0.022
HAD anxiety	−0.319	0.020	0.000 (−0.025, 0.024)	−0.007	0.970
HAD depression	−0.507	<0.001	−0.030 (−0.060, 0.00)	−0.372	0.049
PCS	−0.238	0.090	0.002 (−0.006, 0.009)	0.064	0.651
RLM2						42.2%
BPI intensity			−0.052 (−0.097, −0.008)	−0.353	0.022
HAD anxiety			0.008 (−0.019, 0.033)	0.115	0.553
HAD depression			−0.032 (−0.066, −0.005)	−0.397	0.050
PCS			6.208E-5 (−0.007, 0.008)	0.003	0.987

Notes: r, Pearson correlation coefficient; R², multiple correlation coefficient squared.

Abbreviations: EQ-5D, Euro QoL-5 dimension questionnaire; BPI, brief pain inventory; HAD, hospital anxiety and depression scale; PCS, pain catastrophizing scale; CI, confidence interval; RLM1, regression linear model for unadjusted model; RLM2, regression linear model adjusted for age, gender, living situation, education, smoking habits, and weeks from diagnosis to participation.

Table 5 Bivariate correlations and unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models of EQ VAS

Variables	Correlations with EQ VAS (r)	p-value	Regression coefficients		p-value	R^2
			Unstandardized (95% CI)	Standardized
RLM1						62.6%
BPI intensity	−0.623	<0.001	−3.910 (−6.261, −1.559)	−0.370	0.002
HAD anxiety	−0.434	0.001	0.418 (−0.940, 1.777)	0.084	0.538
HAD depression	−0.714	<0.001	−3.287 (−4.944, −1.630)	−0.567	<0.001
PCS	−0.408	0.003	−0.093 (−0.491, 0.305)	−0.053	0.640
RLM2						69.5%
BPI intensity			−3.711 (−6.479, −1.380)	−0.351	0.003
HAD anxiety			0.768 (−1.112, 1.915)	0.155	0.287
HAD depression			−3.933 (−5.234, −1.682)	−0.678	<0.001
PCS			−0.251 (−0.527, 0.038)	−0.142	0.233

Notes: r, Pearson correlation coefficient; R², multiple correlation coefficient squared.

Abbreviations: EQ VAS, the European quality of life visual analog scale; BPI, brief pain inventory; HAD, hospital anxiety and depression scale; PCS, pain catastrophizing scale; CI, confidence interval; RLM1, regression linear model for unadjusted model; RLM2, regression linear model adjusted for age, gender, living situation, education, smoking habits, and weeks from diagnosis to participation.

World Values Survey. Online data analysis Available from: www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSOnline.jspAccessed June 6, 2017

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