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Table 4 Comparison of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of active patients and drop-outs at 6-months, and 1- and 2-years follow-up

From: Study retention and attrition in a longitudinal cohort study including patient-reported outcomes, fieldwork and biobank samples: results of the Netherlands quality of life and Biomedical cohort study (NET-QUBIC) among 739 head and neck cancer patients and 262 informal caregivers

 

6 months follow-up

1 year follow-up

2 years follow-up

Active patients

N = 615

Drop-outs (all)

N = 124

Drop-outs (excl. deceased)

N = 93

p-value

active vs.

drop-outs

(all)

p-value active vs. drop-outs

(deceased)

Active patients

N = 552

Drop-outs (all)

N = 187

Drop-outs (excl. deceased)

N = 105

p-value

active vs.

drop-outs

(all)

p-value active vs. drop-outs

(deceased)

Active patients

N = 486

Drop-outs (all)

N = 253

Drop-outs (excl. deceased)

N = 122

p-value

active vs.

drop-outs

(all)

p-value active vs. drop-outs

(deceased)

Gender, n (%)

 Men

454 (74%)

95 (77%)

72 (77%)

0.52

0.46

409 (74%)

140 (75%)

78 (74%)

0.84

0.97

358 (74%)

191 (75%)

86 (70%)

0.59

0.48

 Women

161 (26%)

29 (23%)

21 (23%)

  

143 (26%)

47 (25%)

27 (26%)

  

128 (26%)

62 (25%)

36 (30%)

  

Age, mean ± SD years

63.4 ± 9.6

62.6 ± 10.6

61.6 ± 10.9

0.41

0.15

63.3 ± 9.6

63.1 ± 10.3

62.3 ± 10.6

0.84

0.36

63.5 ± 9.7

62.8 ± 9.8

62.1 ± 10.3

0.35

0.17

Tumor location, n (%)

   

0.82

0.94

   

0.46

0.49

   

0.011

0.65

 Oral Cavity

165 (27%)

34 (17%)

23 (25%)

  

146 (26%)

53 (28%)

24 (23%)

  

126 (26%)

73 (29%)

35 (29%)

  

 Oropharynx

219 (36%)

43 (35%)

32 (34%)

  

197 (36%)

65 (35%)

36 (34%)

  

174 (36%)

88 (35%)

39 (32%)

  

 Hypopharynx

41 (7%)

11 (9%)

7 (8%)

  

34 (6%)

18 (10%)

9 (9%)

  

24 (5%)

28 (11%)

9 (7%)

  

 Larynx

171 (28%)

34 (27%)

29 (31%)

  

158 (29%)

47 (25%)

35 (33%)

  

147 (30%)

58 (23%)

37 (30%)

  

 Unknown primary

19 (3%)

2 (2%)

2 (2%)

  

17 (3%)

4 (2%)

1 (1%)

  

15 (3%)

6 (2%)

2 (2%)

  

Clinical disease Stage, n (%)

   

0.011

0.11

   

< 0.001

0.12

   

< 0.001

0.50

 0/I

148 (24%)

15 (12%)

14 (15%)

  

139 (25%)

24 (13%)

20 (19%)

  

126 (26%)

37 (15%)

28 (23%)

  

 II

113 (18%)

19 (15%)

15 (16%)

  

106 (19%)

26 (14%)

17 (16%)

  

94 (19%)

38 (15%)

22 (18%)

  

 III

100 (16%)

27 (22%)

22 (24%)

  

88 (16%)

39 (21%)

26 (25%)

  

76 (16%)

51 (20%)

26 (21%)

  

 IV

254 (41%)

63 (51%)

42 (45%)

  

219 (40%)

98 (52%)

42 (40%)

  

190 (39%)

127 (50%)

46 (38%)

  

Type of treatment, n (%)a

   

0.28

0.65

   

0.06

0.86

   

0.018

0.54

 Single treatment

333 (54%)

60 (49%)

48 (52%)

  

305 (55%)

88 (47%)

57 (54%)

  

274 (56%)

119 (47%)

65 (53%)

  

 Combination treatment

282 (46%)

63 (51%)

45 (48%)

  

247 (45%)

98 (53%)

48 (46%)

  

212 (44%)

133 (53%)

57 (47%)

  

WHO performance, n (%)

   

< 0.001

0.018

   

< 0.001

0.005

   

< 0.001

0.042

 Able to carry out normal activity

442 (72%)

65 (52%)

56 (60%)

  

400 (72%)

107 (57%)

68 (65%)

  

364 (75%)

143 (57%)

79 (65%)

  

 Restricted in physically  strenuous activity

148 (24%)

43 (35%)

28 (30%)

  

136 (25%)

55 (29%)

27 (26%)

  

107 (22%)

84 (33%)

35 (29%)

  

 Ambulatory

25 (4%)

16 (13%)

9 (10%)

  

16 (3%)

25 (13%)

10 (9%)

  

15 (3%)

26 (10%)

8 (7%)

  

Comorbidity, n (%)

   

0.06

0.32

   

0.003

0.06

   

< 0.001

0.016

 None

179 (30%)

25 (22%)

21 (25%)

  

166 (32%)

38 (22%)

21 (22%)

  

149 (32%)

55 (23%)

25 (22%)

  

 Mild

226 (39%)

38 (34%)

30 (36%)

  

205 (39%)

59 (34%)

37 (38%)

  

189 (41%)

75 (32%)

41 (37%)

  

 Moderate

123 (21%)

32 (29%)

25 (30%)

  

105 (20%)

50 (29%)

30 (31%)

  

86 (19%)

69 (29%)

35 (31%)

  

 Severe

59 (10%)

17 (15%)

8 (10%)

  

49 (9%)

27 (16%)

9 (9%)

  

39 (8%)

37 (16%)

11 (10%)

  
  1. Active patients may have missing data on specific components of the assessment. Groups were compared using chi square tests. Significant p-values (p < 0.05) were printed in bold
  2. aOne patient died before start of treatment and was therefore not included in the analysis on treatment
  3. Abbreviations: SD standard deviation, WHO World Health Organization
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