Search

Background: Acute and late toxicities in patients treated with (chemo)radiotherapy for head and neck cancer (HNC) is common and can negatively impact quality of life and performance. Performance status instruments measure the functional ability to perform daily life activities and are important tools in the oncologic population. Aims: Since Dutch performance status scales for the HNC population are lacking, we conducted this study to translate the Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck Cancer Patients (PSS‐HN) into Dutch (D‐PSS‐HN) and to validate this version. Methods & Procedures: The D‐PSS‐HN was translated into Dutch according to the internationally described cross‐cultural adaptation process. It was administered to HNC patients and together with the Functional Oral Intake Scale completed by a speech and language pathologist at five different time points during the first 5 weeks of (chemo)radiotherapy. Patients were asked each time to complete the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy and the Swallowing Quality of Life Questionnaire. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to calculate convergent and discriminant validity and the evolution of D‐PSS‐HN scores was assessed by means of linear mixed models. Outcomes & Results: A total of 35 patients were recruited and > 98% of the clinician‐rated scales were completed. Convergent and discriminant validity were demonstrated, with all correlations rs between 0.467 and 0.819, and between 0.132 and 0.256, respectively. The subscales of the D‐PSS‐HN are sensitive to detect changes through time. Conclusion & Implications: The D‐PSS‐HN is a valid and reliable instrument to assess performance status in patients with HNC treated with (chemo)radiotherapy. It is a useful tool to measure HNC patients' current diet level and functional abilities to perform daily life activities. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject: Acute and late toxicities in patients treated with (chemo)radiotherapy for HNC are common and can negatively impact quality of life and performance. Performance status instruments measure the functional ability to perform daily life activities and are important tools in the oncologic population. However, Dutch performance status scales for the HNC population are lacking. Therefore, we translated the Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck Cancer Patients (PSS‐HN) into Dutch (D‐PSS‐HN) and validated this version. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: We translated the PSS‐HN and demonstrated its convergent and discriminant validity. The subscales of the D‐PSS‐HN are sensitive to detect changes through time. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: The D‐PSS‐HN is a useful tool to measure HNC patients' functional abilities to perform daily life activities. The tool can easily be used in clinical settings: since data collection duration is very short, this facilitates clinical (and research‐related) implementation of the scale. Patients' individual needs could be identified by using the D‐PSS‐HN, resulting in more appropriate approaches and (early) referrals if needed. Interdisciplinary communication could be facilitated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Analogical mapping is a domain‐general cognitive process used notably in language development, and particularly in the abstraction of construction schemas. Children with developmental language disorders (DLD) display an impairment in linguistic productivity and creativity, which can be linked to a lack of generalization of construction schemas. Aims: To investigate analogical mapping in children with DLD, and especially the influence of processing load, as it could explain the lack of creativity observed in children with DLD. It was hypothesized that analogical mapping is altered in children with DLD and that greater cognitive load (sequential presentation and no perceptual support) would be linked to poorer performance in these children. Methods & Procedures: Fifteen children with DLD and their age‐matched peers were administrated a visual analogical reasoning task where they had to complete a sequence sharing the same relational structure as previously presented sequences. Two factors influencing processing load were studied: the modality of presentation (sequential versus simultaneous) and the perceptual support (with versus without). Outcomes & Results: Results showed an expected group effect with poorer performance in children with DLD compared with children with typical language development (TLD). Results corroborated hypotheses according to which children with DLD have difficulties with analogical mapping, which could hinder their abstraction of construction schemas. Results about the influence of processing load were mixed. While the difference between the two groups was more marked for the items without perceptual support than for those with perceptual support, children with DLD were not more affected by the sequential presentation than children with TLD. Conclusions & Implications: Children with DLD have impaired analogical mapping competences, especially when the relational similarities are not supported by perceptual cues. This impairment may be the cause of their difficulties in abstracting construction schemas, thus provoking their poor linguistic productivity and creativity. However, more studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis, as the influence of analogical reasoning on language development could also be reversed or could be linked to another external factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]