ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2020
Evaluation of a speech pathology service delivery model for patients at low dysphagia risk during radiotherapy for HNC.
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 1 paper.
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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.
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1 citing paper in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Triage tools to inform the prioritisation of physical health services following a diagnosis of cancer: a scoping review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThere are no evidence-based guidelines informing which patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) require regular speech pathology (SP) support during radiation treatment (RT). Hence, some services use a "one-size-fits-all" model, potentially over-servicing those patients at low risk for dysphagia. This study evaluated the clinical safety and efficiency of an interdisciplinary service model for patients identified prospectively as "low risk" for dysphagia during RT.
methodsA prospective cohort of 65 patients with HNCs of the skin, thyroid, parotid, nose, and salivary glands, receiving curative RT, were managed on a low-risk pathway. Patients with baseline dysphagia (functional oral intake score ≤ 5) were excluded. The model involved dietitians conducting dysphagia screening at weeks 3, 5, and 6/7 within scheduled appointments. Patients at risk of dysphagia were referred to SP for assessment, then management if required. To validate the model, SP assessed swallow status/toxicities at week 5/6/7 during RT and confirmed dysphagia status at weeks 2 and 6 post RT.
resultsMost (89.3%) patients did not require dysphagia support from SP services. Of the 18 patients identified on screening, only 7 (10.7%) had sufficient issues to return to SP care. Week 5/6/7 SP review confirmed low levels of toxicity. No post-treatment dysphagia was observed. There was an incremental benefit of A$15.02 for SP staff costs and a recovery of 5.31 appointments per patient.
conclusionThe pathway is a safe and effective service model to manage patients with HNC at low risk for dysphagia during RT, avoiding unnecessary SP appointments for the patient and service.
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