[A concept for the assessment of quality of life in patients with carcinomas of the upper aerodigestive tract].
BACKGROUND
The quality of life (QoL) of patients with malignant diseases decreases significantly.


OBJECTIVE
The evaluation of QoL is generally not part of the management of patients with head and neck cancer. The aim of this study was to develop an additional disease- and treatment-specific questionnaire to evaluate QoL in surgically treated head and neck cancer patients.


METHODS
The general QoL was evaluated with the QLQ-C30 questionnaire developed by the European Organisation of Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).


RESULTS
The disease-specific QoL was evaluated using the EORTC H&N35 module. The new questionnaire "Kiel Head and Neck 17" (KQL H&N-17) is a disease- and treatment-specific addition especially in regard to side effects caused by surgical treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
A wide application of this whole concept is needed to obtain comparable results from studies suitable for evaluating QoL in patients receiving different treatments for their malignant diseases. Moreover, the effectiveness and quality of treatment could be controlled better, which would help to increase the QoL of these patients.
Maune
S
S
Klinik für Hals-, Nasen-, Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Halschirurgie, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Arnold-Heller-Strasse 14, 24105 Kiel.
Bosse
F
F
Heissenberg
M C
MC
Schmidt
C
C
Berens
M
M
Küchler
T
T
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D010039:Otorhinolaryngologic Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Konzept zur Erhebung der Lebensqualität bei Patienten mit Karzinomen des oberen Aerodigestivtraktes.