Joining the dots: Can UW‐QoL free‐text data assist in understanding individual treatment experiences and QoL outcomes in head and neck cancer?

Abstract

KEYWORDShead and neck cancer, oncology, qualitative, quality of life, UW-QoL 2 | METHODS This study was a single site, prospective observational design. Participants were recruited from the maxillofacial clinic or multidisciplinary head and neck clinic of a large tertiary hospital in Brisbane, Australia, between February and July, 2013. Quality of life was measured using the UW-QoL, version 4 (1). Participants completed the UW-QoL at study enrolment (prior to treatment), 1-and 6-months post-treatment.The study eligibility criteria included a diagnosis of a cancer in the head and neck region, being aged 18 years or older and the ability to provide informed consent. Patients who were diagnosed with a recurrence of a previously treated malignancy or had started treatment at the time of recruitment were not eligible for inclusion. Demographic and clinical data were also collected.

Light and Temperature Requirements during Germination of Potential Perennial Grasses for Rehabilitation of Degraded Sandy Arabian Deserts

“…Fewer species can adapt the life on unstable loose sand dunes of the arid deserts (El-Keblawy et al, 2015a;Qian et al, 2016;Rodriguez et al, 2017). Five species of the studied grasses are very dominant on sand dunes, which Table II.…”

“…Land degradation, caused by overgrazing and other inappropriate land uses, has been recognized as one of the major threats to ecosystem services and functioning, especially in arid or semi-arid ecosystems (Qian et al, 2014(Qian et al, , 2016. Continuous overgrazing in the fragile rangelands of the Arab Gulf region has accelerated soil erosion that resulted in loss of vegetation, which in turn accelerated desertification (Halwagy et al, 1990;Dean et al, 1995;Kassas, 1995;El-Keblawy et al, 2015a;El-Keblawy, 2016). Overgrazing affects more than 90% of the land of the Arabian Peninsula, 44% of which is severely or very severely degraded (Ferguson et al, 1998;Shaltout et al, 2008;El-Keblawy et al, 2009a).…”

“…Overgrazing affects more than 90% of the land of the Arabian Peninsula, 44% of which is severely or very severely degraded (Ferguson et al, 1998;Shaltout et al, 2008;El-Keblawy et al, 2009a). In the Arabian deserts, few shrubs and grasses can tolerate the infertile loose sandy habitats that are exposed to wind erosion (Maestre & Escudero, 2009;El-Keblawy et al, 2015a;El-Keblawy, 2016). Rehabilitation of such degraded land could happen through revegetation programmes by using native plants.…”

“…Perennial grasses represent a significant component in the rangelands of the Arabian deserts (El-Keblawy, 2013;El-Keblawy et al, 2009a, 2009b, 2015a. Perennial grasses could grow within few days after any rain event, even during hot summers .…”

Association of Inventory to Measure and Assess imaGe Disturbance – Head and Neck Scores With Clinically Meaningful Body Image-Related Distress Among Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

“…The fourth version of the University of Washington-QOL (UW-QOL) is an HNC-specific questionnaire with 12 domains (pain, appearance, activity, recreation, swallowing, chewing, speech, shoulder, taste, saliva, mood, and anxiety) that assesses QOL within the past 7 days (Rogers et al, 2002). This tool was chosen as it is one of the most widely used HNC-specific measures of QOL (Pateman et al, 2017). Individual domain questions have between 3 and 6 response options scaled evenly from 0 (worst) to 100 (best), according to the hierarchy of response (Rogers et al, 2002).…”