Abstract
IntroductionThe impact of advanced laryngeal cancer and its extensive surgical treatments cause significant morbidity for these patients. Total laryngectomy impacts essential functions such as breathing, communication and swallowing, and may influence the quality of life as well as affecting the social life of laryngeal cancer patients.ObjectiveDescribe the quality of life and analyze the factors associated with the reduced quality of life in patients who have undergone total laryngectomy.MethodObservational cross-sectional study was carried out to evaluate the quality of life of patients who had undergone total laryngectomy due to laryngeal cancer. The fourth version of the UW-QOL Quality of Life Assessment Questionnaire from Washington University, validated for Portuguese, was used.ResultsThe study population was 95 patients, and the mean composite score of the QOL was 80.4. In the subjective domains the majority of the patients (38.9%) reported they felt much better at present compared to the month before being diagnosed with cancer. When questioned about how they evaluated their health-related quality of life, there was a predominance of those who considered it good (43.2%), and most considered they had a good quality of life (46.3%) considering personal well-being. The overall quality of life was considered good to excellent by 83.2% of the patients. Patients with tracheoesophageal prosthesis reported a better quality of life, compared to patients using an electrolarynx or esophageal voice.ConclusionThe high mean value of the composite score for quality of life revealed that the patients assessed their quality of life positively. The absence of vocal emission was the only variable associated with a lower quality of life within the composite score according to the UW-QOL questionnaire.
Highlights
The impact of advanced laryngeal cancer and its extensive surgical treatments cause significant morbidity for these patients
When questioned about how they evaluated their health-related quality of life, there was a predominance of those who considered it good (43.2%), and most considered they had a good quality of life (46.3%) considering personal well-being
The absence of vocal emission was the only variable associated with a lower quality of life within the composite score according to the UW-Quality of Life (QOL) questionnaire
Summary
The impact of advanced laryngeal cancer and its extensive surgical treatments cause significant morbidity for these patients. Laryngeal cancer accounts for approximately 25% of the malignant neoplasms in the head and neck region and 2% of all malignancies. It causes 83,000 deaths per year worldwide [1]. Estimates of around 6390 new cases of laryngeal cancer in men are expected in Brazil in the 2018–2019 period and 1280 new cases in women. The rehabilitation of the voice using a tracheoesophageal prosthesis is currently considered the gold standard because it provides better vocal quality and longer phonation time than the other methods [4]
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