Patient-reported physical activity and the association with health-related quality of life in head and neck cancer survivors

Abstract

PurposeThis study aimed to assess patient-reported levels of physical activity (PA) and its associations with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) adjusted for important demographic, lifestyle-related, and clinical factors, among head and neck (HNC) survivors.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 116 HNC survivors. PA was assessed with the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) and HRQoL with the EORTC-QLQ-C30 and EORTC-HN35. Associations were studied using univariable and multivariable regression analyses.ResultsMedian PASE score was 100.3 (interquartile range 65.1;170.8) of which 54% were household, 34% leisure-time, and 12% occupational activities. Younger HNC survivors had higher levels of PA. Higher PA was significantly associated with higher global QoL (p < 0.05). Findings for physical function, role function, social function, fatigue, and pain were in line, but not statistically significant (0.05 ≤ p < 0.10).ConclusionsAmong HNC survivors, a large proportion of PA consists of household activities. Younger HNC survivors had higher PA levels, and higher PA levels were associated with higher HRQoL.

Leisure and Productivity in Older Adults with Cancer: A Systematic Review

“…Hence, older cancer patients with a high level of fatigue and/or more comorbidities are more at risk of low occupational participation. van Nieuwenhuizen et al [ 32 ] extended this finding by showing that household activities accounted for an increasing proportion (30-60%) of the total daily PA in older adults. Furthermore, older head and neck cancer survivors were more at risk of low PA engagement.…”

“…Blair et al [ 28 ], Buffart et al [ 31 ], and van Nieuwenhuizen et al [ 32 ] studied the link between cancer and physical activities (PAs) among cancer survivors—including leisure PAs and household PAs, whereas Blair et al performed a prospective cohort study ( n = 14375) and Buffart et al ( n = 1371) and van Nieuwenhuizen et al ( n = 116) performed a cross-sectional study. Blair et al and Buffart et al both used the SF-36 QoL (the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 item survey) questionnaire to explore the link between PA and quality of life, whereas van Nieuwenhuizen et al used the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire core module (EORTC QLQ-C30) and the head and neck module (EORTC HN35).…”

“…More specifically, for the head and neck cancer survivors, 54% of the reported activities were household activities, 34% were leisure activities, and 12% were productive activities [ 32 ].…”

“…Further, “social functioning” and “physical functioning” were not clearly described and thus often remained vague. Although van Nieuwenhuizen et al [ 32 ] applied the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE), they did not use the tool's open-ended options. By way of an example, Desmond et al's [ 47 ] study of 6503 respondents from the 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BFRSS) used open questions.…”

“…For example, a publication about a single, specific type of leisure activity might not have been found by our search algorithm. Secondly, half of our publications were not specific for older adults [ 29 , 31 , 32 ], and none of those offered a specific analysis of results for the over 65s. Also, we only found a few articles exactly matching our criteria: this did highlight the dramatic need for further practice and research with this population, but it also prevented us from reaching any solid and transferable conclusions about the impact of cancer regarding leisure and productivity in older adults.…”