Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42608688›Full record

ArticleHealth and quality of life outcomes2026

Time-dependent analysis of HUS change in older patients aged > 75 years with head and neck cancer.

Danni Cheng, Katrina Hueniken, Andrew Hope, Shao Hui Huang, Anna Spreafico, David P Goldstein, Scott V Bratman, Yu Zhao, Jianjun Ren, John R de Almeida and 2 more

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Article in Health and quality of life outcomes, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Danni ChengDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, West China Hospital, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Katrina HuenikenDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Andrew HopeDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Shao Hui HuangDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Anna SpreaficoDivision of Medical Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
David P GoldsteinDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Scott V BratmanDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Yu ZhaoDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, West China Hospital, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Jianjun RenDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, West China Hospital, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
John R de AlmeidaDepartment of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Wei XuDepartment of Biostatistics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Geoffrey LiuDivision of Medical Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Geoffrey.Liu@uhn.ca.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPrevious longitudinal evidence has suggested that patients aged > 75 years may be associated with a poorer Health Utility Index Mark 3 (HUI-3) trajectory. We compared the longitudinal health utility scores (HUS) of older (>75 years) versus younger patients with head and neck cancers across various clinical subgroups and identified factors associated with decline in quality of life.

methodsThe study prospectively collected clinical information and follow-up data from head and neck cancer patients. The HUI-3 scale was used to assess changes in health-related quality of life at baseline, post-surgery, mid-radiation therapy, and at 3, 6, and 12 months. A linear mixed model was employed to evaluate the changes in HUS and age categories over time.

resultsWe included 859 patients with head and neck cancer, of whom 647 were included in the longitudinal analytic cohort. In descriptive analyses, patients aged > 75 years showed less complete recovery in mean HUS after early treatment-related decline compared with younger patients. In the primary mixed-effects model, younger age groups had more positive average HUS slopes than patients aged > 75 years. However, these age-related differences were attenuated and were no longer statistically supported after adjustment for clinical stage, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, and treatment modality. Subgroup findings were exploratory and were not consistently supported across all model-based comparisons.

conclusionPatients aged > 75 years may be at risk for slower or incomplete post-treatment recovery in HUI-3-derived health utility. These findings should be interpreted cautiously given potential selection bias, missing data, and attenuation after covariate adjustment. Larger studies with detailed geriatric and domain-specific functional measures are needed to confirm these patterns.

Indexed as

Head and Neck NeoplasmsHealth StatusQuality of LifeAgedAged, 80 and overAge FactorsFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesSurveys and QuestionnairesElderly patientsHead and neck cancerHUI-3 questionnairesTime-dependent analysis

Identifiers

PMID42608688
PMCPMC13480271

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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.