A Quality Improvement Study to Identify Deterrents and Improve Voice Patient Compliance with Follow-Up.

Objective: Evaluation and treatment for voice disorders may optimally involve multiple treatment modalities. However, even in multispecialty clinics, patients may be less likely to comply with follow-up compared to patients seen for other otolaryngologic complaints. We investigated the factors contributing to noncompliance and then implemented quality improvement metrics aimed at improving our clinical noncompliance rates.

Anxiety symptoms predict head and neck cancer survival: Exploring mediation by systemic inflammation and tumor response to treatment.

Background: Head and neck cancers (HNC) are associated with high rates of anxiety. Anxiety has been linked to biological pathways implicated in cancer progression, though little is known about its effects on overall survival. We hypothesized that higher pretreatment anxiety levels in patients with HNC would predict poorer 2-year overall survival and expected this relationship to be mediated by both systemic inflammation and tumor response to treatment.

Depressive Symptoms, Systemic Inflammation, and Survival Among Patients With Head and Neck Cancer.

Importance: Patients with head and neck cancer experience high rates of depression. Depression and systemic inflammation have been found to be associated in numerous cancer types, often independently from disease status. Depression-related inflammation may elevate the risks for poor tumor response to treatment and early mortality, and comprises a mechanism by which depression is associated with survival in head and neck cancer.

Postoperative Recurrent Cholesteatoma in Rural Versus Urban Populations.

Objective: Chronic ear disease presents a unique challenge to otolaryngologists in both rural and urban settings. Cholesteatoma remains a difficult disease to treat in rural populations due to limited healthcare access and high risk of recurrence. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are differences in surgical outcomes among patients with acquired cholesteatoma residing in rural versus urban settings.

Depressive symptoms and actigraphy-measured circadian disruption predict head and neck cancer survival.

Objective: Depressive symptoms have demonstrated prognostic significance among head and neck cancer patients. Depression is associated with circadian disruption, which is prognostic in multiple other cancer types. We hypothesized that depressive symptoms would be associated with circadian disruption in head and neck cancer, that each would be related to poorer 2-year overall survival, and that relationships would be mediated by tumor response to treatment.