Table 1 Patient characteristics of the preceding randomized CCRT trial at in the NKI-AVL of Ackerstaff et al. (usual care) [3] and the randomized CCRT trial at the NKI-AVL of Van der Molen et al. [4] that included a preventive swallowing exercise program (PREP)
Usual care N = 53 | PREP N = 37 | |
|---|---|---|
Age in years | ||
Median | 55 | 58 |
Range | 24-75 | 39-77 |
Sex | ||
Male | 36 (68%) | 28 (76%) |
Female | 17 (32%) | 9 (24%) |
Stage distribution | ||
III | 14 (26%) | 14 (38%) |
IV | 39 (74%) | 23 (62%) |
Tumour site | ||
Oral cavity/oropharynx | 16 (43%) | |
Hypopharynx | 42 (79%) | 15 (41%) |
Nasopharynx | 11 (21%) | 6 (16%) |
Follow up | ||
Pre | Pre | |
7 wks | 10 wks | |
1-year | 1-year | |
Tube dependency | ||
before CCRT | 8 (15%) | 0 (0%) |
1-year after CCRT | 13/53 (25%) | 1/37 (3%) |
Aspiration at 1-year | Unknown | 1/37 (3%) |
Hospital admission days after completion of CCRT (mean per patient/year) | 4.49 | 3.19 |
Single day admissions after completion of CCRT (mean per patient/year) | 0.70 | 0.16 |