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Utilization of rehabilitation services in patients with head and neck cancer in the United States: A SEER‐Medicare analysis
Author(s) -
Wang Jennifer R.,
Nurgalieva Zhannat,
Fu Shuangshuang,
Tam Samantha,
Zhao Hui,
Giordano Sharon H.,
Hutcheson Katherine A.,
Lewis Carol M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.25844
Subject(s) - medicine , rehabilitation , head and neck cancer , odds ratio , odds , epidemiology , radiation therapy , physical therapy , surgery , logistic regression
Background Head and neck cancer (HNC) and its treatment lead to functional impairments. Rehabilitation by speech‐language pathology (SLP) and occupational/physical therapy (OT/PT) can decrease morbidity. Methods The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results–Medicare data for patients with HNC diagnosed between 2002 and 2011 was utilized to evaluate posttreatment rehabilitation. Results In 16 194 patients, the overall utilization rate was 20.7% for SLP and 26.2% for OT/PT services. Treatment modality was significantly associated rehabilitation utilization. Compared to patients treated with primary surgery, those treated with primary radiotherapy had significantly lower odds of OT/PT utilization. Patients treated with surgery plus adjuvant treatment and primary concurrent chemoradiation had higher odds of SLP utilization compared to patients treated with surgery alone. Conclusions Rehabilitation services appeared to be underutilized by patients with HNC in the United States and vary with treatment modality. There is a need to improve integration of rehabilitation services into the HNC care continuum. Summary Rehabilitation services are underutilized by patients with HNC during posttreatment surveillance in the United States. Treatment modality significantly impacts rehabilitation utilization patterns.