Functional and cognitive impairment , depressive symptoms and social isolation are highly prevalent in head and neck cancer patients and associate with high risk of adverse health outcomes .
OBJECTIVES Older head and neck cancer patients are at increased risk for adverse health outcomes , but little is known about which geriatric assessment associates with poor outcome .
The aim is to study the association of functional or cognitive impairment , social environment and frailty with adverse health outcomes in patients with head and neck cancer .
Pretreatment quality of life predicts for locoregional control in head and neck cancer patients: a radiation therapy oncology group analysis.
PURPOSE To analyze the prospect ively collected  health-related quality -of-life ( HRQOL )  data from patients enrolled in two Radiation Therapy Oncology Group r and omized Phase III head and neck cancer trials ( 90 - 03 and 91 - 11 ) to assess their value as an independent prognostic factor for locoregional control ( LRC ) and /or overall survival ( OS ) . METHODS AND MATERIAL S HRQOL question naires , using a vali date d instrument , the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck ( FACT-H&N ) , version 2 , were completed by patients before the start of treatment . OS and LRC were the outcome measures analyzed using a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model . RESULTS Baseline FACT-H&N data were available for 1,093 patients and missing for 417 patients . No significant difference in outcome was found between the patients with and without baseline FACT-H&N data ( p = 0.58 ) . The median follow-up time was 27.2 months for all patients and 49 months for surviving patients . Multivariate analyses were performed for both OS and LRC . Beyond tumor and nodal stage , Karnofsky performance status , primary site , cigarette use , use of concurrent chemotherapy , and altered fractionation schedules , the FACT-H&N score was independently predictive of LRC ( but not OS ) , with p = 0.0038 . The functional well-being component of the FACT-H&N predicted most significantly for LRC ( p = 0.0004 ) . CONCLUSIONS This study represents , to our knowledge , the largest analysis of HRQOL as a prognostic factor in locally advanced head and neck cancer patients . The results of this study have demonstrated the importance of baseline HRQOL as a significant and independent predictor of LRC in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer
Functional and cognitive impairment , depressive symptoms and social isolation are highly prevalent in head and neck cancer patients and associate with high risk of adverse health outcomes .
OBJECTIVES Older head and neck cancer patients are at increased risk for adverse health outcomes , but little is known about which geriatric assessment associates with poor outcome .
The aim is to study the association of functional or cognitive impairment , social environment and frailty with adverse health outcomes in patients with head and neck cancer .