Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31203510›Full record

ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2020

The prevalence of patient-reported dysphagia and oral complications in cancer patients.

Jacqui Frowen, Rhys Hughes, Jemma Skeat

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
35citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
15.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Guideline
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Association between oral health and frailty among older cancer patients: a cross-sectional study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  7. Dentists' knowledge and practices in supportive care: a French national survey.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Volunteers with and without a history of head and neck cancer swallowing, saliva, and QOL in head/neck cancer.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Observational
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Observational
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jacqui FrowenNutrition and Speech Pathology Department, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Locked Bag 1, A'Beckett Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 8006, Australia. Jacqui.Frowen@petermac.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6843-5076
Rhys HughesNutrition and Speech Pathology Department, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Locked Bag 1, A'Beckett Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 8006, Australia.
Jemma SkeatDepartment of Audiology and Speech Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre · AUThe University of Melbourne · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeResearch investigating swallowing problems (dysphagia) and complications within the oral cavity in non-head and neck cancer patients is limited. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of patient-reported dysphagia and oral complications in all cancer patients and to examine the relationships between cancer types, oral complications and dysphagia.

methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted at a specialist cancer centre in Australia. Data on patient-reported dysphagia and oral complications were collected using the Vanderbilt Head and Neck Symptom Survey (version 2.0) which was completed by participants in one of three settings: inpatients, ambulatory patients receiving chemotherapy, or ambulatory patients receiving radiotherapy.

resultsData were collected on 239 patients, receiving treatment for 14 cancer types. The proportion of patients who reported dysphagic symptoms were as follows: any dysphagia (54%); dysphagia for liquids (20%); and dysphagia for solids (46%). Significantly more head and neck patients and significantly fewer breast patients reported dysphagia, but there were no differences between other tumour types. Oral symptoms across all cancer types were reported at the following rates: taste changes (62%); xerostomia (56%); voice changes (37%); smell changes (35%); thick mucous (33%); difficulty with teeth/dentures (25%); mouth/throat pain (20%); and trismus (19%).

conclusionsThis is the first time comprehensive data on dysphagia and oral complications across all cancer patients have been collected. We have identified that dysphagic symptoms and oral complications-which have implications for quality of life and function-are common in all cancer patients, not just those with head and neck cancer.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAged, 80 and overAustraliaCross-Sectional StudiesDeglutition DisordersFemaleHead and Neck NeoplasmsHumansMaleMiddle AgedPainPatient Reported Outcome MeasuresPrevalenceQuality of LifeSurveys and QuestionnairesCancer therapiesDeglutitionOral complicationsQuality of lifeSwallowing

Identifiers

PMID31203510
OpenAlexW2950183203

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.