Social participation in head and neck cancer survivors with swallowing disorder

Background: Social function and quality of life were negatively impacted by the sequelae of treatment for the disease in the head and neck cancer survivor with swallowing disorder. Method: Data from a total of 1023 survivors between July 2012 and November 2017 were collected from the Taiwan Data Bank of Persons with Disability. Nonparametric rank F test was used to analyze the influence of different variables on social participation. Results: (a) All WHODAS (World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule) 2.0 scores revealed significantly increased difficulty when swallowing impairment increased (P <.001). (b) Unemployment, institutionalization, severity of swallowing impairment, cancer sites, and WHODAS 2.0 score of domains 1 to 4 were negatively related to social participation, while living in rural area is related to increased social participation. Conclusions: Social participation was negatively affected by many variables in this population. Among these variables, cancer sites and WHODAS 2.0 score of domains 1 to 4 were the strongest factors.