Mapping the impact of malnutrition as defined by the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition and nutrition impact symptoms on the possibility of returning to work after treatment for head and neck cancer

This study aimed to investigate whether malnutrition or nutrition impact symptoms (NIS) affect the possibility of returning to work after treatment for head and neck cancer. Patients of working age with head and neck cancer were followed up from treatment initiation to 3 months (n = 238), 1 year (n = 182), and 2 years (n = 130) after treatment completion. The observed decrease in the number of patients over time was due to retirement, lack of follow-up, or death. Returning to work was dichotomised as yes or no. Malnutrition was diagnosed 7 weeks after treatment initiation using the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria. This time-point corresponds to the end of chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy (with or without prior surgery), except for patients who underwent exclusive surgery. NIS were scored on a Likert scale (1–5) at each follow-up using the Head and Neck Patient Symptom Checklist© (HNSC©). Nonparametric tests were used to analyse the ability of patients with/without malnutrition and high/low NIS scores to return to work. At 3 months, 1 year, and 2 years after treatment completion, 135/238 (56.7