title: The effect of comorbidity on quality of life during radiotherapy in head and neck cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the impact of comorbidity on quality of life during radiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective assessment of quality of life and retrospective assessment of comorbidity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients' quality of life was assessed at the start and twice during radiation treatment with the University of Washington Quality of Life questionnaire. Comorbidity was assessed from the case notes of 91 patients with the Adult Comorbidity Evaluation-27 index.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A mean comorbidity burden of 1.07 was found. Comorbid illnesses afflicted a little more than 60 percent of our cohort. Patients with moderate to severe comorbidity had statistically significantly worse quality of life at the start (P = 0.044) and midpoint of treatment (P = 0.005), but not at the end of treatment (P = 0.114). The magnitude of change of these scores after treatment was not influenced by comorbidity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  On the basis of severity of decompensation, radiotherapy does not produce a differential impact on the quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. n.oozeer@googlemail.com <n.oozeer@googlemail.com>
authors.forename: Nashreen Banon
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Oozeer
authors.forename: Jen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benbow
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Downs
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Welch
authors.forename: Vinidh
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Paleri
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires