Patient-reported quality-of-life outcomes in relation to provider-assessed adverse events during head and neck radiotherapy

Purpose To assess the relationship between patient-reported quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes and provider-assessed adverse events (AEs) during head-and-neck (H&N) radiotherapy (RT). Methods Sixty-five patients undergoing H&N RT prospectively completed 12-domain linear analogue self-assessments (LASA) at baseline, before biweekly appointments, and at last week of RT. At the same time points, provider-assessed AEs were graded using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.0. LASA scores were stratified by maximum-grade AE and analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis methodology. Agreement between LASA scores and maximum-grade AE was assessed using Bland-Altman analysis. Results Patient-reported QOL outcomes showed clinically meaningful decreases in most domains, predominantly fatigue (77.8% of patients), social activity (75.4%), and overall QOL (74.2%). Provider-assessed AEs showed 100% grade 2 AE, 35.4% grade 3 AE, and 3.1% grade 4 AE. At baseline, patients with higher grade AEs reported worse physical well-being (WB) ( P = .04). At week 1, the following QOL domains were worse for patients with higher grade AEs: overall QOL ( P = .03), mental WB ( P = .02), and physical WB ( P = .03). Bland-Altman analysis showed that QOL scores were relatively worse than AE burden at baseline and relatively better at RT completion. Conclusions Worse QOL was associated with higher-grade AEs at baseline and early in RT. The impact of AEs on QOL appears to lessen with time. Patient-reported QOL outcomes and provider-assessed AEs provide complementary information.