Table 1 Descriptive Statistics of the 2019, 2020 and 2022 Cohorts.

From: The COVID-19 pandemic has not influenced survival outcomes of head and neck cancer squamous cell carcinomas in the West of Scotland: a retrospective cohort study

 

2019 (n = 239)

2020 (n = 237)

2022 (n = 231)

p

Total

239

237

231

0.93a

Follow up, Person-Years (Mean ± SD)

3.1 ( ± 2.4)

2.6 ( ± 1.9)

1.8 ( ± 1.0)

 

Events (as of 8.3.25)

   

<0.01a

 Alive / Censored

109 (45.6%)

100 (42.2%)

132 (57.1%)

 

 Deceased

130 (54.4%)

137 (57.8%)

99 (42.9%)

 

Site

   

<0.01a

 Oral Cavity

54 (22.6%)

84 (35.4%)

56 (24.2%)

 

 Oropharynx

77 (32.2%)

73 (30.8%)

81 (35.1%)

 

 Larynx

72 (30.1%)

44 (18.6%)

60 (26.0%)

 

 Nasopharynx

10 (4.2%)

6 (2.5%)

4 (1.7%)

 

 Hypopharynx

22 (9.2%)

16 (6.8%)

20 (8.7%)

 

 Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP)

4 (1.7%)

14 (5.9%)

10 (4.3%)

 

Oropharynx ca. HPV Status

   

0.43b

 P16 Positive

49 (63.6%)

42 (57.5%)

56 (69.1%)

 

 P16 Negative

24 (31.2%)

28 (38.4%)

24 (29.6%)

 

 N.A.

4 (5.2%)

3 (4.1%)

1 (1.2%)

 

Age at MDT, Years (mean ± SD)

65.2 ( ± 11.9)

64.7 ( ± 11.5)

65.4 ( ± 11.6)

0.77c

Sex

   

0.14a

 Female

62 (25.9%)

79 (33.3%)

61 (26.4%)

 

 Male

177 (74.1%)

158 (66.7%)

170 (73.6%)

 

SIMD Quintile

   

0.01a

 1 (20% Most Deprived)

110 (46.0%)

78 (32.9%)

88 (38.1%)

 

 2

52 (21.8%)

63 (26.6%)

37 (16.0%)

 

 3

32 (13.4%)

38 (16.0%)

47 (20.3%)

 

 4

21 (8.8%)

37 (15.6%)

33 (14.3%)

 

 5 (20% Least Deprived)

24 (10.0%)

21 (8.9%)

26 (11.3%)

 

Disease

   

0.01b

 Early (Stage I and II)

103 (43.1%)

76 (32.1%)

101 (43.7%)

 

 Advanced (Stage III and IV)

136 (56.9%)

160 (67.5%)

127 (55.0%)

 

 Missing

0

1 (0.4%)

3 (1.3%)

 

AJCC Stage

   

0.06b

 I

68 (28.5%)

48 (20.3%)

58 (25.1%)

 

 II

35 (14.6%)

28 (11.8%)

43 (18.6%)

 

 III

48 (20.1%)

49 (20.7%)

42 (18.2%)

 

 IV (IV, IVa, IVb & IVc)

88 (36.8%)

111 (46.8%)

85 (36.8%)

 

 Missing

0

1 (0.4%)

3 (1.3%)

 

Smoking history

   

0.60b

 Never

52 (21.8%)

60 (25.3%)

57 (24.7%)

 

 Ever

187 (78.2%)

177 (74.7%)

173 (74.9%)

 

 Missing

0

0

1 (0.4%)

 

History alcohol excess

   

0.98b

 Never

158 (66.1%)

157 (66.2%)

152 (66.1%)

 

 Ever

81 (33.9%)

80 (33.8%)

78 (33.9%)

 

 Missing

0

0

1 (0.4%)

 

ECOG PS

   

0.32b

 0

103 (43.1%)

107 (45.1%)

122 (52.8%)

 

 1

74 (31.0%)

78 (32.9%)

60 (26.0%)

 

 2

38 (15.9%)

30 (12.7%)

33 (14.3%)

 

 3

23 (9.6%)

18 (7.6%)

14 (6.1%)

 

 4

1 (0.4%)

4 (1.7%)

2 (0.9%)

 

Emergency Tracheostomy

   

0.37a

 No

234 (97.9%)

230 (97.0%)

221 (95.7%)

 

 Yes

5 (2.1%)

7 (3.0%)

10 (4.3%)

 

Treatment Intent

   

0.21b

 Curative

155 (65.0%)

159 (66.7%)

163 (70.6%)

 

 Palliative

84 (35.0%)

78 (33.3%)

66 (28.6%)

 

 N.A.

0

0

2 (0.9%)

 

Treatment Delivered

   

d0.63a

 BSC

75 (31.4%)

73 (30.8%)

56 (24.2%)

 

 Palliative SACT

17 (7.1%)

10 (4.2%)

14 (6.1%)

 

 RT alone

34 (14.2%)

36 (15.2%)

38 (16.5%)

 

 CRT

39 (16.3%)

35 (14.8%)

38 (16.5%)

 

 Surgery alone

50 (20.9%)

44 (18.6%)

53 (22.9%)

 

 Surgery + RT

17 (7.1%)

27 (11.4%)

21 (9.1%)

 

 Surgery + CRT

7 (2.9%)

12 (5.1%)

11 (4.8%)

 
  1. Significance highlighted in bold.
  2. N.A. Not applicable/assessed, SIMD Quintile Scottish index of Multiple Deprivation Quintile, ECOG PS Performance Status (0 = fully active; 1 = Restricted in physically strenuous activity but ambulatory; 2 = Ambulatory and capable of all selfcare but unable to carry out any work activities; 3 = Capable of only limited selfcare; confined to bed or chair more than 50% of waking hours; 4 = Completely disabled; cannot perform any selfcare), BSC Best Supportive Care, CRT Chemo-radiotherapy, RT Radiotherapy, SACT Systemic Anti-cancer Therapy.
  3. aPearson Chi-squared.
  4. bFishers Fisher’s exact (simulated).
  5. cOne-way ANOVA.
  6. dWhen comparing surgical (surgery alone, surgery + RT or CRT) and oncology-centred (RT alone & CRT) treatments, p = 0.82 Pearson Chi-squared.
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