The M. D. Anderson symptom inventory-head and neck module, a patient-reported outcome instrument, accurately predicts the severity of radiation-induced mucositis.

PURPOSE: To compare the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck (MDASI-HN) module, a symptom burden instrument, with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck (FACT-HN) module, a quality-of-life instrument, for the assessment of mucositis in patients with head-and-neck cancer treated with radiotherapy and to identify the most distressing symptoms from the patient's perspective. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Consecutive patients with head-and-neck cancer (n = 134) completed the MDASI-HN and FACT-HN before radiotherapy (time 1) and after 6 weeks of radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy (time 2). The mean global and subscale scores for each instrument were compared with the objective mucositis scores determined from the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 3.0. RESULTS: The global and subscale scores for each instrument showed highly significant changes from time 1 to time 2 and a significant correlation with the objective mucositis scores at time 2. Only the MDASI scores, however, were significant predictors of objective Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events mucositis scores on multivariate regression analysis (standardized regression coefficient, 0.355 for the global score and 0.310 for the head-and-neck cancer-specific score). Most of the moderate and severe symptoms associated with mucositis as identified on the MDASI-HN are not present on the FACT-HN. CONCLUSION: Both the MDASI-HN and FACT-HN modules can predict the mucositis scores. However, the MDASI-HN, a symptom burden instrument, was more closely associated with the severity of radiation-induced mucositis than the FACT-HN on multivariate regression analysis. This greater association was most likely related to the inclusion of a greater number of face-valid mucositis-related items in the MDASI-HN compared with the FACT-HN.