Objective: The purpose of this article is to review and document the differing methods of functional outcome measurements following treatment for oral and oropharyngeal carcinoma.
Study design: Literature review.
Methods: Articles were identified using the MEDLINE database search engine. The "Methods" sections of relevant articles were then reviewed, and functional outcomes assessment methods were tabulated.
Results: We identified 60 articles published in the last 7 years (2000-2007) that reported on functional outcomes following treatment for oral or oropharyngeal cancer. Twenty-three studies used quality of life questionnaires and 12 used clinical observations to describe function. Swallowing was assessed objectively in 29 studies, with videofluoroscopic swallowing studies as the primary method of assessment. Speech was assessed in only 10 articles, with perceptual analysis used as the primary assessment modality.
Conclusions: Preserving good speech and swallowing function following treatment for oral and oropharyngeal cancer remains an extremely important aspect of cancer care. Nevertheless, there is a clear lack of uniform methods for assessing functional outcomes. We propose that functional outcome studies should include both objective and subjective assessments of swallowing and speech to gain sufficient information on posttreatment function.