title: Health-related quality of life and voice following radiotherapy for laryngeal cancer--a comparison between glottic and supraglottic tumours.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To provide further information about short-term effects on voice quality and health-related quality of life (HRQL) following radiotherapy for laryngeal cancer, comparing glottic and supraglottic tumours.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-seven male patients who received radiotherapy for glottic and supraglottic tumours were included. Voice recordings were performed and patient reported outcome questionnaires filled in before radiotherapy and one-month post-completion. Acoustic and temporal measures were produced from the recordings and compared to an age-matched, vocally healthy control group (n = 23).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Deterioration of HRQL post-radiotherapy was noted for both the glottic and supraglottic cohort. Pre- radiotherapy the glottic cohort demonstrated acoustic and temporal measures that were statistically different from healthy controls, with improvements post-radiotherapy where several measures showed no statistically significant differences compared to healthy controls. The supraglottic cohort revealed voice measures comparable to the healthy controls but demonstrated statistically significant impairments in HRQL compared to the glottic cohort following radiotherapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with supraglottic tumours may experience more eating and swallowing related problems prior to radiotherapy compared to glottic tumours and demonstrate a more significant reduction in HRQL following treatment. However, in terms of voice measurements, subjective measures correlate poorly with objective acoustic parameters, thereby emphasising the importance of patient-reported outcomes as part of treatment evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital , Gothenburg , Sweden.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tuomi
authors.forename: Therese
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.forename: Mia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Finizia
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D005931:Glottis / Q000528:radiation effects; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014833:Voice Quality / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*