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Clinical Trial
. 2011 May;131(5):552-61.
doi: 10.3109/00016489.2010.532157.

Early self-care rehabilitation of head and neck cancer patients

Alexander Ahlberg  1 , Therese Engström, Polymnia Nikolaidis, Karin Gunnarsson, Hemming Johansson, Lena Sharp, Göran Laurell
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Early self-care rehabilitation of head and neck cancer patients

Alexander Ahlberg et al. Acta Otolaryngol. 2011 May.

Abstract

Conclusions: No positive effects of early preventive rehabilitation could be identified. The results do not contradict the proposition that rehabilitation based on self-care can be effective but it is important to establish evidence-based training programs and identify proper instruments for selection of patients and evaluation of intervention.

Objectives: Patients with head and neck cancer suffer from functional impairments due to intense treatment. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of an experimental early preventive rehabilitation using hard, objective end points in a nonselective, longitudinal, prospective cohort study.

Methods: In all, 190 patients were included in the program and received instructions for training before the start of treatment with the aim of reducing swallowing problems and reducing mouth opening and stiffness in the neck. A control group of 184 patients was recruited.

Results: There was no difference in weight loss and 2-year survival between the two groups. No positive effects concerning functional impairments were found in patient-reported outcome measures.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Inclusion of patients and loss of patients. P-S, project-specific questionnaire; BL, baseline (time of diagnosis); EORTC, includes both QLQ-30 and H&N35. 6 months, 6 months after termination of treatment. *Year 2004 includes only patients treated at the southern RT unit and year 2007 runs only until June 30, since the study was terminated after this.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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