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Background: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures lead to improved quality of life in cancer patients and possibly to earlier detection of tumor recurrence., Objective: Patient interest in complementing tumor follow-up care with apps for recording PROs was assessed using a questionnaire., Materials and Methods: An independently created questionnaire to record the interest of tumor patients in a digitalized form of tumor follow-up care was evaluated (n = 110)., Results: In the study, the majority of tumor patients were interested in using an app for tumor disease. Taking age into account, the number increased even further for patients < 60 years of age, as expected. In line with this, human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive patients showed significantly greater interest (p = 0.021)., Conclusion: The introduction of an app is supported by the majority of tumor patients. In addition to recording PROs, other applications (appointment reminders, patient files, sports/nutrition programs) could also be integrated., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: With the passing of the "Digital Care Act" by the German Bundestag at the end of 2019, it was made possible, among other things, for digital health applications to be reimbursed by statutory health insurance companies under certain conditions. The aim of this work is to identify digital health applications related to ear, nose, and throat medicine and to describe the underlying evidence., Materials and Methods: The digital health applications register was analyzed to identify digital health applications with an indication area relating to an otorhinolaryngologic disease. Digital health applications were included that were either permanently or provisionally included, or currently deleted if further information was available. The underlying evidence was assessed according to the recommendations of the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine for therapeutic studies., Results: A total of six digital health applications with a direct or indirect connection to otorhinolaryngology were identified, three of which were permanently and two provisionally included in the directory. One digital health application has currently been withdrawn by the manufacturer. The permanently recorded digital health applications are based on evidence level 1b., Conclusion: The introduction of digital health applications is sometimes also discussed critically, but they represent an innovative approach and various digital health applications with a high level of underlying evidence are already available, especially for the ear, nose, and throat area., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

After total laryngectomy, regaining ability to speech is a keystone in regards of life quality. Voice prostheses have been shown to be a sufficient tool for satisfying communication, although frequent replacements of prostheses are burdening certain patients. Therefore, a more accurate understanding of mechanisms of prosthetic leakage is urgently needed., Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 58 Patients after laryngectomy. Additionally, we analyzed pre- and post-therapeutic CT-scans of 22 Patients regarding pharyngeal stenosis., Results: In 40 Patients, at least one replacement of voice prosthesis was documented during observation period, median device life was 235 days. Patients treated with adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) showed a significantly longer device life than patients with adjuvant radio-chemotherapy (RCT, p = 0.002). Furthermore, patients suffering of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) showed a significantly shortened device life (p = 0.04).17 patients (42.5 %) suffered of clinically relevant stenosis of the neopharynx, which was treated with dilatation in 14 patients (82 %) and did not affect prosthesis device life., Conclusion: GERD is a risk factor for shortened voice prosthesis' device life and therefore should be treated effectively after laryngectomy. Also, adjuvant RCT predisposes a shortened device life.Stenosis is observed frequently after laryngectomy but does not affect device life when effectively treated., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)