Long-Term Quality of Life following Treatment in Head and Neck Cancer Survivors with Feeding Tubes

Background: There is limited research on patients requiring long-term feeding tubes after head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment, despite the significant impact on post-treatment quality of life (QoL). Our study addresses this gap by assessing long-term feeding tube and long-term QoL (6 months and 1-year post-treatment). Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients diagnosed with HNC. All patients were offered FACT-HN at baseline, and 6 months to 1 year after completion of treatment. The FACT-HN (outcome variable) is a patient reported outcome measure for well-being. Higher scores indicate better quality of life. The exposure variable is the presence of a feeding tube at 6 months to 1 year after completion. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare QoL at 6 months to 1 year according to the presence or absence of feeding tube. Results: There were significant differences between patients with or without feeding tube in terms of functional wellbeing (16.5 vs. 22.0; P=0.037), head and neck specific concerns (19.0 vs. 28.0; P=0.021), and total FACT-HN score (98 vs 122; P=0.035) with patients having feeding tubes demonstrating worse quality of life for all domains. Conclusion: In patients with HNC, continued presence of a feeding tube 6 months to 1 year following treatment was associated with worse functional wellbeing, head and neck related quality of life, and overall QoL. These findings demonstrate the areas of continued need for patients with longer standing feeding tubes and can help guide future support strategies for patients with swallowing dysfunction following treatment of HNC.