Dysphagia and its relationship with weight change in head and neck cancer patients treated with radiotherapy / 中华临床营养杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To describe the characteristics of dysphagia in patients with head and neck cancer during radiotherapy,and analyze the cause of dysphagia and the relationship between dysphagia and weight change.Methods Patients with head and neck cancer treated with radiotherapy in Beijing Cancer Hospital from November 2017 to June 2018 were recruited.The M.D.Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) was used to assess the dysphagia of patients before (T1),during (T2) and at the end (T3) of the radiotherapy.Meanwhile,the weight,dietary intake and radiation adverse effects were investigated.Generalized estimating equations were used to analyze the impact factors of dysphagia and the relationship among dysphagia,dietary intake and weight change.Results Ninety-six patients were completely investigated and the incidence of dysphagia were 6.3％ (6/ 96),80.2％ (77/96) and 85.4％ (82/96) in T1,T2 and T3.With the progress of radiotherapy,the total score and the scores of 4 dimensions of MDADI dropped and the dietary intake declined.The average weight loss was (5.09±3.31) kg,and 76.1％ of the patients had weight loss over 5％ at the end of radiotherapy.The occurrence of dysphagia was associated with the radiotherapy-related oral and laryngeal mucositis and the weight loss was closely associated with the site of radiation,dysphagia,and dietary intake decline.Conclusions The dysphagia of patients with head and neck cancer is affected by radiation adverse effects,and is most severe at the end of radiotherapy.Dysphagia might result in dietary intake decline and weight loss.Clinicians should pay close attention to the swallowing function of the patients and take measures earlier accordingly.