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Kanatas A, Singh P et al. Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2015;53: 538–545

The authors state that the treatment of head and neck cancer, can have a 'negative impact on breathing, eating, and swallowing, and on speaking and body-image.' In addition, such changes in appearance and functional loss can cause severe psychosocial problems. These commentators claim that the completion of both the University of Washington quality of life head and neck cancer questionnaire (UWQoL – not only measures the patient's physical, mental and spiritual health, but also that of family and friends) and the PCI (Patient Concerns Inventory – referred to only in references) together better inform the care team of their patients' needs. On interrogating their results, it would appear that tumours of the tongue and floor of mouth affect 'physical function' more than 'social/emotional function'. It was noted that differences were only considered significant at less than 0.01, 'to reflect the large number of statistical tests done'. This observational study collected, among other data, patient-reported outcomes (n = 1060 patients) following treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Only those questionnaires completed around 2 years from diagnosis or operation were analysed.