Upper body motor function and swallowing impairments and its association in survivors of head and neck cancer: A cross-sectional study
Ortiz-Comino, Lucía; Fernández-Lao, Carolina; Speksnijder, Caroline M; Lozano-Lozano, Mario; Tovar-Martín, Isabel; Arroyo-Morales, Manuel; Martín-Martín, Lydia
(2020) PLoS ONE, volume 15, issue 6
(Article)
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Upper body motor function and swallowing may be affected after curative treatment for head and neck cancer. The aims of this study are to compare maximum mouth opening (MMO), temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD), cervical and shoulder active range of motion (AROM) and strength, and swallowing difficulty between survivors of head
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and neck cancer (sHNC) and healthy matched controls (HMC) and to examine the correlations between these outcomes in sHNC. METHODS: Thirty-two sHNC and 32 HMC participated on the study. MMO, TMD, cervical and shoulder AROM, cervical and shoulder strength, the SPADI shoulder pain and disability indices, the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) score, swallowing difficulty as determined using a visual analogue scale (VAS), and the location of disturbances in swallowing, were recorded. RESULTS: MMO and cervical and shoulder AROM and strength were significantly lower in sHNC, whereas FAI, SPADI score, EAT-10 and VAS were higher. The MMO, TMD, cervical and shoulder AROM, and cervical shoulder strength values showed significant correlations (some direct, others inverse) with one another. Swallowing difficulty was inversely associated with the MMO, cervical AROM and shoulder strength. CONCLUSION: Compared with controls, sHNC present smaller MMO, lower cervical and shoulder AROM, lower cervical and shoulder strength and higher perception of TMD, shoulder pain and disability and swallowing difficulty. sHNC suffer impaired swallowing related to lower MMO, presence of TMD, cervical AROM and shoulder strength values. Improving these variables via physiotherapy may reduce the difficulty in swallowing experienced by some sHNC.
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Keywords: Aged, Cancer Survivors, Cervical Vertebrae/physiopathology, Cross-Sectional Studies, Deglutition Disorders/etiology, Female, Head and Neck Neoplasms/complications, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Range of Motion, Articular, Shoulder Pain/etiology, Shoulder/physiopathology, Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome/etiology, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, General, General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Journal Article
ISSN: 1932-6203
Publisher: Public Library of Science
Note: Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Ortiz-Comino et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
(Peer reviewed)