Accuracy of self-reported tobacco assessments in a head and neck cancer treatment population

Warren, Graham W.; Arnold, Susanne M.; Valentino, Joseph P.; Gal, Thomas J.; Hyland, Andrew J.; Singh, Anurag K.; Rangnekar, Vivek M.; Cummings, K. Michael; Marshall, James R.; Kudrimoti, Mahesh R.

doi:10.1016/j.radonc.2011.11.003

« Previous Next »Radiotherapy & Oncology
Volume 103, Issue 1 , Pages 45-48, April 2012

Accuracy of self-reported tobacco assessments in a head and neck cancer treatment population

Graham W. Warren
- Department of Radiation Medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, USA
- Corresponding author. Address: Department of Radiation Medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263, USA.
Susanne M. Arnold
- Department of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA
Joseph P. Valentino
- Department of Surgery, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
Thomas J. Gal
- Department of Surgery, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
Andrew J. Hyland
- Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
Anurag K. Singh
- Department of Radiation Medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, USA
Vivek M. Rangnekar
- Department of Radiation Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, NY, USA
K. Michael Cummings
- Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
James R. Marshall
- Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, USA
Mahesh R. Kudrimoti
- Department of Radiation Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, NY, USA

Received 17 June 2011; received in revised form 3 November 2011; accepted 3 November 2011. published online 28 November 2011.

Abstract

Prospective analysis was performed of self-reported and biochemically confirmed tobacco use in 50 head and neck cancer patients during treatment. With 93.5% compliance to complete weekly self-report and biochemical confirmatory tests, 29.4% of smokers required biochemical assessment for identification. Accuracy increased by 14.9% with weekly vs. baseline self-reported assessments. Data confirm that head and neck cancer patients misrepresent true tobacco use during treatment.

Keywords: Tobacco, Smoking, Head/neck, Radiotherapy, Cotinine