Treatment expectations and quality of life outcomes of patients with laryngeal cancer based on different treatment methods

Abstract

The treatment expectations of patients with laryngeal carcinoma and their quality of life after treatment were evaluated. We enrolled patients who were receiving treatment for epidermoid carcinoma of the larynx between January 2011 and January 2012. Their expectations from the treatment were evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS) prior to and at the end of the treatment. Quality of life was assessed using the EORTC QLQ C 30 and EORTC H&N 35 questionnaires 3 months after completion of the treatment. In addition, the Beck Depression Inventory was used for mood assessment of the patients after treatment. As per the VAS scores pre-treatment, no differences were found between treatment expectations of early and advanced-stage tumors groups in pre-treatment expectations, but post-treatment evaluation statistically found difference between two groups in terms of average VAS score. Emotional, cognitive, and social functions of the EORTC QLQ C 30 questionnaire were the most affected items in the advanced-stage tumor group. Sense and speech problems in the symptom scales of the EORTC H&N 35 questionnaire were found to be significantly higher in patients with advanced-stage tumors than in those with early stage tumors. The present study is the first to assess the treatment expectations of patients with laryngeal carcinoma by using the VAS. Although the treatment expectations of the patients with early and advanced-stage tumors did not differ according to VAS scores in pre-treatment evaluation, early stage groups had better score than advanced-stage group. VAS was an easy and a simple applicable method for evaluating treatment expectations.