Health-related Quality of Life as Studied by EORTC QLQ and Voice Handicap Index Among Various Patients With Laryngeal Disease

Tom Karlsen; Lorentz Sandvik; John-Helge Heimdal; Marianne Jensen Hjermstad; Anne Kari Hersvik Aarstad; Hans Jørgen Aarstad

doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2016.07.009

Health-related Quality of Life as Studied by EORTC QLQ and Voice Handicap Index Among Various Patients With Laryngeal Disease

J Voice. 2017 Mar;31(2):251.e17-251.e26. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2016.07.009. Epub 2016 Aug 9.

Authors

Tom Karlsen¹, Lorentz Sandvik², John-Helge Heimdal³, Marianne Jensen Hjermstad⁴, Anne Kari Hersvik Aarstad⁵, Hans Jørgen Aarstad³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Speech and Language, Statped Vest, Bergen, Norway; Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. Electronic address: tom.karlsen@statped.no.
² Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
³ Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
⁴ Regional Centre for Excellence in Palliative Care, Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, Norway; European Palliative Care Research Centre, Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.
⁵ Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway.

PMID: 27520510
DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2016.07.009

Abstract

Objectives: Patients with voice-related disorders are often treated by a multidisciplinary team including assessment by patient-reported outcome measures. The present paper aims at documenting the importance of including general health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures to clinical investigations.

Study design: The participants (N = 80 larynx cancer, N = 32 recurrent palsy, N = 23 dysfunctional, N = 75 degenerative/inflammation, N = 19 various) were included consecutively at the laryngology clinic at Haukeland University Hospital. In addition, HRQoL data were included from one national group with laryngectomies (N = 105), one group with various patients formerly treated for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (N = 96), and one population-based reference group (N = 1956).

Method: Obtained were the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ), the Voice Handicap Index (VHI), and the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) neuroticism scores.

Results: By analysis of variance, we have determined significant dependence of groups analyzing the sum global QoL/health index (F = 9.47; P <0.001), the functional HRQoL sum score (F_5,2373 = 7.14, P <0.001), and the symptom sum HRQoL scores (F_7,2381 = 8.13; P <0.001). In particular, patients with recurrent palsy and laryngeal cancer had lowered HRQoL. At the index levels, in particular dyspnea scores, were scored depending on larynx disease group (F_7,2288 = 24.4; P <0.001). The VHI score correlated with the EORTC H&N35 "speech" index with a common variance of 52%. VHI scores correlated with level of neuroticism with 8% common variance (P <0.001) and EORTC scores with 22% (P <0.001).

Conclusion: In particular, among patients with voice-related disease, those with recurrent palsy and laryngeal cancer had lower HRQoL. Furthermore, the HRQoL and VHI scores were inversely tied to neuroticism.

Keywords: EORTC QLQ; Norwegian; Voice Handicap Index; quality of life; voice disorders.

Publication types

Comparative Study

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Anxiety Disorders / physiopathology
Anxiety Disorders / psychology
Disability Evaluation*
Female
Hospitals, University
Humans
Laryngeal Diseases / complications
Laryngeal Diseases / diagnosis*
Laryngeal Diseases / physiopathology
Laryngeal Diseases / psychology
Male
Middle Aged
Neuroticism
Norway
Predictive Value of Tests
Quality of Life*
Risk Factors
Severity of Illness Index
Surveys and Questionnaires*
Voice Disorders / diagnosis*
Voice Disorders / etiology
Voice Disorders / physiopathology
Voice Disorders / psychology
Voice Quality*
Young Adult