Quality of life for head and neck cancer patients--has treatment planning altered?
In the last decade quality of life data has emerged as a valid outcome measure and a means of capturing the patient's perspective following head and neck cancer. This view can be different to what doctors and other members of the multidisciplinary team might think. Also this data can be more discriminative than other outcome measures such as morbidity and objective measurements of dysfunction. In this chapter, the role of quality of life in the treatment decision process is discussed and examples of how QOL data have helped shaped clinical practice are given.
Rogers
Simon N
SN
Evidence-Based Practice Research Centre, Faculty of Health, Edge Hill University, St Helens Road, Ormskirk L39 4QP, Lancashire, UK. snrogers@doctors.org.uk
D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards