title: Myofascial pain syndrome after head and neck cancer treatment: Prevalence, risk factors, and influence on quality of life.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer may develop myofascial pain syndrome as sequelae. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, risk factors, and quality of life (QOL) related to myofascial pain syndrome.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a prospective study including patients with head and neck cancer with at least a 1-year disease-free interval.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred sixty-seven patients were analyzed, and myofascial pain syndrome was diagnosed in 20 (11.9%). In the multivariate analysis, hypopharyngeal tumors (odds ratio [OR] = 6.35; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.58-25.56) and neck dissection (OR = 3.43; 95% CI = 1.16-10.17) were independent factors for myofascial pain syndrome. The pain (p < .001) and shoulder domain (p < .001) as well as overall University of Washington Quality of Life (UW-QOL) score (p = .006) were significantly lower in the patients with myofascial pain syndrome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Myofascial pain syndrome was observed in 1 of 9 patients after head and neck cancer treatment and a worse QOL was observed among them. Tumor site and neck dissection were found to be risk factors for myofascial pain syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Department, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leticia Rodrigues
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: Anesthesiology Department, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cláudia Carvalho
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics Department, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cleyton Zanardo
authors.initials: CZ
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Head and Neck Surgery Department, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos Roberto
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: dos Santos
authors.affiliation: Head and Neck Surgery Department, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: André Lopes
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Carvalho
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009209:Myofascial Pain Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D037981:Neck Dissection / Q000009:adverse effects; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: head and neck cancer; myofascial pain; pain; physiotherapy; quality of life