Survey of current functional outcomes assessment practices in patients with head and neck cancer: initial project of the head and neck research network.
BACKGROUND
Functional outcomes assessment has become increasingly important in informing treatment decisions in the area of head and neck cancer. However, consistency of assessment methods across studies has been lacking. For the literature to inform clinical decision making, consensus regarding outcomes measurements is necessary.


OBJECTIVE
The Head and Neck Research Network (HNRN) was founded in January 2008 to become a conduit for high-quality research in the area of functional outcomes in patients with head and neck defects. The present study surveyed experts in functional outcomes assessment to determine what are considered the most important tools for assessing speech and swallowing and what background patient characteristics are important to capture.


METHODS
Respondents to the online survey included 54 participants with a background in speech-language pathology, with the majority of respondents from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.


CONCLUSIONS
The results from the survey indicated that clinicians consider both subjective and objective measures as important to use when assessing function. More advanced technical tools were often rated as less important; however, it also was noted that clinicians were most often not able to access these tools or were unfamiliar with them.
Rieger
Jana M
JM
Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, and Institute for Reconstructive Sciences in Medicine, Misericordia Community Hospital, Edmonton, AB. jana.rieger@ualberta.ca
Tang
Judith A Lam
JA
Harris
Jeffrey
J
Seikaly
Hadi
H
Wolfaardt
Johan
J
Glaum
Ricarda
R
Schmelzeisen
Rainer
R
Buchbinder
Daniel
D
Jacobson
Adam
A
Lazarus
Cathy
C
Markowitz
Erika
E
Okay
Devin
D
Urken
Mark
M
Aitasalo
Kalle
K
Happonen
Risto-Pekka
RP
Kinnunen
Ilpo
I
Laine
Juhani
J
Soukka
Tero
T
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology*; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology