title: The influence of the 'patient-to-patient model' on swallowing problems in patients with supraglottic laryngeal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the patient-to-patient model and swallowing problems in Chinese patients with supraglottic laryngeal cancer (SLC), and to find a solution to help SLC patients with swallowing problems.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-nine patients who had undergone operation for horizontal partial laryngectomy were chosen and divided randomly into two groups. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), Swallow Quality-of-Life (SWAL-QOL) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) questionnaires were used to measure the quality of life and swallowing situation of those patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At 0.5 and 1 months after eating, the scores of the EORTC QLQ-C30 and SWAL-QOL of the participant group were significantly higher than those of the nonparticipant group (p < 0.05). One week after eating, the VAS score for swallowing improved significantly from 4.9 to 7.9 in the participant group. However, in the nonparticipant group, the VAS score showed no obvious change (from 4.5 to 4.1).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We concluded that the patient-to-patient model may be utilized in clinical cases to solve swallowing problems of SLC patients, and infered that swallowing problems mainly appeared in 60 to 70-year-olds, and 1 week after eating was a critical time point of communication.
authors: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Zheng
authors: Ming
authors: M
authors: Liu
authors: Minghua
authors: M
authors: Li
authors: Jiarui
authors: J
authors: Zhang
authors: Jingchun
authors: J
authors: Ge
authors: Yanan
authors: Y
authors: Sun
authors: Linli
authors: L
authors: Tian
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D007825:Laryngectomy / Q000523:psychology*; D007830:Larynx / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires