Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Nov;21(11):3127-36.
doi: 10.1007/s00520-013-1870-z. Epub 2013 Jul 14.

The head and neck symptom checklist©: an instrument to evaluate nutrition impact symptoms effect on energy intake and weight loss

Catherine Kubrak  1 , Kärin Olson, Vickie E Baracos
Affiliations

The head and neck symptom checklist©: an instrument to evaluate nutrition impact symptoms effect on energy intake and weight loss

Catherine Kubrak et al. Support Care Cancer. 2013 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to validate the Head and Neck Patient Symptom Checklist(©) (HNSC(©)) by tracing the prevalence and interference with eating of nutrition impact symptoms (NIS) over time and by examining relationships among NIS included in the HNSC, energy intake, and weight loss.

Methods: Height, weight, 3-day diet records, and HNSC(©) were obtained at baseline, posttreatment, and 2.5 month follow-up for 52 treatment-naive head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. Relationships among energy intake, weight loss, age, sex, treatment, tumor stage, and NIS were evaluated using general estimating equation (GEE) modeling. Cumulative hazard (CH) analysis was used to determine the time and risk of weight loss.

Results: From baseline to posttreatment, 71 % of patients had 5 % body weight loss. Despite energy intakes returning to baseline levels at follow-up, 88 % of patients continued to lose weight. At posttreatment, 100 % of patients reported 2 or more NIS (range 2-12); these symptoms were still present at follow-up in 83 % of the patients. Univariate GEE analysis demonstrated that most NIS predicted energy intake and weight loss, while multivariate GEE analysis showed that depression, dysphagia, and sore mouth predicted energy intake, and dysphagia and sore mouth predicted weight loss. CH analysis showed that NIS accelerated the time and probability of weight loss.

Conclusions: The HNSC(©) is a valid tool for assessing NIS in HNC. Identification of NIS may aid in the management of symptoms associated with reduced energy intake and weight loss and thus decrease the malnutrition risk in HNC patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Annu Rev Nutr. 2006;26:435-61 - PubMed
    1. Cancer. 1999 Aug 1;86(3):519-27 - PubMed
    1. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2006 Jul 15;65(4):1051-62 - PubMed
    1. Cancer Nurs. 2005 Nov-Dec;28(6):425-35 - PubMed
    1. Clin Nutr. 2006 Oct;25(5):765-72 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources