title: A preliminary study on the relationships between global health/quality of life and specific head and neck cancer quality of life domains in Puerto Rico.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important treatment outcome for head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. By ascertaining the most important HNC HRQOL issues, research and practice can be directed toward enhancing patient QOL.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study of 46 ENT clinic HNC patients in Puerto Rico (PR) was completed. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 (general QOL), and the QLQ-H&N35 (HNC QOL) instruments were administered. Correlations and multivariable regressions were separately conducted for QLQ-H&N35 variables on the three QLQ-C30 outcome variables: overall health, overall QOL, and the global health/QOL domain.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Correlation findings included statistically significant negative correlations between the three QLQ-C30 outcome variables and the QLQ-H&N35 variables pain, swallowing, social eating, social contact, and sexuality. Multivariable linear regression identified statistically significant inverse indicators of the outcomes: (1) "lessening of sexuality" with "overall health" (p= 0.02), (2) "problem with social eating" (p= 0.023), "taking pain killers" (p= 0.025), and "problem with social contact" (p= 0.035) with "overall QOL," and (3) "problems with social eating" (p < 0.009) and "taking pain killers" (p= 0.016) with the "global health/QOL" domain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that problems with pain, social eating, social interactions, and loss of sexuality are critical indicators of degraded HRQOL in HNC patients living in Puerto Rico. Our results add to the overall knowledge base regarding QOL among HNC patients. The promise of improved QOL for the HNC patient is attainable through additional research in conjunction with advances in clinical treatments and patient management protocols.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY 10003, USA. wp9@nyu.edu
authors.forename: Walter J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Psoter
authors.forename: Maria L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Aguilar
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Linda S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.forename: Douglas E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Morse
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003679:Deglutition; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication; D008875:Middle Aged; D011647:Puerto Rico; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012725:Sexual Behavior