Decisional regret, symptom burden, and quality of life following transoral robotic surgery for oropharyngeal cancer

Abstract

BackgroundTransoral robotic surgery (TORS) has equivalent oncologic control to radiotherapy with potential for improved quality of life (QOL) and lower patient-reported decisional regret. MethodsCross-sectional study between 2016 and 2021 of TORS patients with early-stage oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who completed the Decision Regret Scale (DRS), M. D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI), and University of Washington Quality of Life (UW-QOL). The median time from treatment to questionnaire completion was 1.8 years (IQR 1.4–3.3, range 1.0–5.6). ResultsOf 65 patients, 84.6% expressed no or mild decisional regret. Regret was not associated with clinical parameters or adjuvant treatment but was correlated with MDADI (τavg = −0.23, p < 0.001) and UW-QOL (τavg = −0.27, p < 0.001). Worse MDADI was associated with older age and worse UW-QOL was associated with multi-site operation and shorter time to survey. ConclusionsOverall, the TORS cohort expressed very limited decisional regret. DRS scores were unaffected by clinicodemographics or additional adjuvant therapies, but decision regret was correlated with worse QOL and worse swallowing.