TY - JOUR
T1 - Lymphedema and Trismus after Head and Neck Cancer, and the Impact on Body Image and Quality of Life
AU - Arends, Coralie R
AU - van der Molen, Lisette
AU - Bragante, Karoline
AU - Navran, Arash
AU - van den Brekel, Michiel W M
AU - Stuiver, Martijn M
AU - Lindhout, Josephine E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 by the authors.
PY - 2024/2/3
Y1 - 2024/2/3
N2 - Background: To assess the prevalence of chronic lymphedema and trismus in patients > 6 months after head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment, and to explore how the severity of these conditions correlates with body image and quality of life. Methods: The cross-sectional sample included 59 patients, treated for HNC between six months to three years ago. Physical measurements were performed to assess the presence of external lymphedema and trismus (<36 mm). Furthermore, participants completed two questionnaires regarding body image (BIS) and quality of life (UW-QoL V4). Results: Lymphedema prevalence was 94.1% (95% CI 0.86–0.98), with a median severity score of 9 (range 0–24). Trismus prevalence in this sample was 1.2%. The median BIS score was 2, indicating a positive body image. The UW-QoL score showed a good QOL with a median of 100. Only the domain of saliva and overall related health had a lower median of 70 and 60, respectively. There was no correlation between lymphedema and body image (r = 0.08, p = 0.544). Patients with higher lymphedema scores reported poorer speech with a moderate correlation (r = −0.39, p = 0.003). Conclusion: Lymphedema is a highly prevalent, but moderately severe late side-effect of HNC with a limited impact on quality of life domains except for speech, in our cohort.
AB - Background: To assess the prevalence of chronic lymphedema and trismus in patients > 6 months after head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment, and to explore how the severity of these conditions correlates with body image and quality of life. Methods: The cross-sectional sample included 59 patients, treated for HNC between six months to three years ago. Physical measurements were performed to assess the presence of external lymphedema and trismus (<36 mm). Furthermore, participants completed two questionnaires regarding body image (BIS) and quality of life (UW-QoL V4). Results: Lymphedema prevalence was 94.1% (95% CI 0.86–0.98), with a median severity score of 9 (range 0–24). Trismus prevalence in this sample was 1.2%. The median BIS score was 2, indicating a positive body image. The UW-QoL score showed a good QOL with a median of 100. Only the domain of saliva and overall related health had a lower median of 70 and 60, respectively. There was no correlation between lymphedema and body image (r = 0.08, p = 0.544). Patients with higher lymphedema scores reported poorer speech with a moderate correlation (r = −0.39, p = 0.003). Conclusion: Lymphedema is a highly prevalent, but moderately severe late side-effect of HNC with a limited impact on quality of life domains except for speech, in our cohort.
KW - body image
KW - head and neck cancer
KW - lymphedema
KW - quality of life
KW - trismus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85184683542&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/cancers16030653
DO - 10.3390/cancers16030653
M3 - Article
C2 - 38339404
SN - 2072-6694
VL - 16
JO - Cancers
JF - Cancers
IS - 3
M1 - 653
ER -