Quality of Life Outcomes for Parotid Malignancies

Abstract

BackgroundThis study describes patient‐reported outcome measures (PROMs) and associated factors in patients who underwent surgery for malignant parotid tumors (MPT).MethodsThis is a retrospective study of all surgically treated MPT patients in a multidisciplinary head and neck cancer (HNC) survivorship clinic (2017–2023). PROMs included University of Washington Quality of Life Questionnaire (UW‐QOL), Eating Assessment Tool (EAT‐10), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ‐8), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD‐7), Neck Disability Index (NDI), and Insomnia Severity Index. Multivariable regression analysis was used to investigate clinical predictors associated with PROMs.ResultsIn 62 MPT patients, the prevalence of clinically relevant dysphagia symptoms (EAT‐10), elevated symptoms of depression (PHQ‐8), moderate/severe symptoms of anxiety (GAD‐7), moderate/severe neck pain with activities of daily living (NDI), and moderate/severe symptoms of insomnia at last follow‐up was 32.3%, 15.5%, 7.1%, 17.7%, and 7.2%, respectively. Nonparametric one‐sided test revealed that patients treated with adjuvant CRT had significantly worse physical QOL, social‐emotional QOL, and swallowing scores than patients treated with surgery alone (p = 0.01, p = 0.02, p = 0.03, respectively); that patients treated with surgery and adjuvant RT had significantly worse physical QOL and social‐emotional QOL than patients treated with surgery alone (p < 0.01, p = 0.01, respectively) and that patients treated with surgery and adjuvant CRT had significantly worse swallowing and neck pain than patients treated with surgery and adjuvant RT (p = 0.03, p = 0.05, respectively).ConclusionsIn patients with surgically treated MPT, adjuvant CRT and RT were associated with worse PROMs.Level of Evidence4 Laryngoscope, 2024