The swallowing ability and psychosocial domains of patients with dysphagia among head and neck cancer population

Abstract

Dysphagia is a significant health issue and it gives a substantial impact on the individual’s quality of life. This study aims to explore the quality of life of patients with dysphagia in head and neck cancer population. Twenty patients with dysphagia who were attending to oncology clinic in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia for their medical treatment on the head and neck cancer involved in the study. The Swallowing Activity and Participation Profile (SAPP) was used to gather information on the patients’ swallowing ability and psychosocial domains (personal, social and working, and emotional). The results indicated that the swallowing ability was significantly related to the personal, social and working, and emotional domains. The Mann-Whitney test showed no statistically significant difference in the personal domain and in the social and working domain of men and women. Yet the result revealed a statistically significant difference in the emotional domain of men (M = 10.42) and women (M = 14.63). On the whole, this study positively conform that the quality of life of patients with dysphagia among head and neck cancer population was truly affected.