Quality of life after parotid and temporal bone surgery for cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The purposes of this study were to examine the quality of life (QL) of patients who received treatment for cancer of the parotid or temporal region, and to identify factors contributing to it. The relationships between clinician-based measures of treatment outcome and the patient-based counterparts were also evaluated.


METHODS
A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted on 23 patients who had received either a temporal bone resection or a combination of parotidectomy and radiotherapy. The QL survey involved both global QL and measures of the appearance, communication, hearing, physical, psychological, and social domains. Patients were assessed clinically for their performance status, facial nerve function, disfigurement, and hearing and the results were compared with patient-rated QL. Correlation between the QL variables and global QL was identified using Spearman correlation tests.


RESULTS
Ongoing physical symptoms, communication difficulties, and social disturbances were associated with poorer global QL (P <.05). No correlation was detected between global QL and objective disfigurement, facial function, and measures of hearing loss. With the exception of hearing testing, clinical assessments generally did not correlate well with patient ratings.


CONCLUSIONS
QL measures provide insight into patients' perceptions of the treatment outcome but do not necessarily correlate with the clinicians' views. The use of a global QL measure overcomes the difficulty of extrapolating the impact of symptom scores or observational measures on patients' overall quality of survival.
Kwok
Henry C K
HC
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Green Lane Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.
Morton
Randall P
RP
Chaplin
John M
JM
McIvor
Nicholas P
NP
Sillars
Hamish A
HA
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D017567:Karnofsky Performance Status; D008297:Male; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012888:Skull Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D012917:Social Adjustment; D013701:Temporal Bone / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000601:surgery*