MDASI Head and Neck Cancer Module
The MD Anderson Symptom Inventory for head and neck cancer (MDASI-HN) is a disease-specific MDASI module. Use the MDASI-HN to assess the severity of symptoms experienced by patients with head and neck cancer and the interference with daily living caused by these symptoms.
Along with the core MDASI’s 13 symptom items and 6 interference items, the MDASI-HN also assesses 9 symptoms relevant to head and neck cancer.
Core MDASI Symptoms | Head and Neck Cancer Symptoms | MDASI Interference |
---|---|---|
Pain | Mucus in the mouth or throat | Relations with other people |
Fatigue | Difficulty swallowing or chewing | Enjoyment of life |
Nausea | Choking or coughing | Mood |
Disturbed sleep | Difficulty with voice or speech | Walking |
Distress (feeling upset) | Skin pain, burning, or rash | Activity |
Shortness of breath | Constipation | Work (including housework) |
Difficulty remembering | Problems with tasting food | |
Lack of appetite | Mouth or throat sores | |
Drowsiness | Problems with teeth or gums | |
Dry mouth | ||
Sadness | ||
Vomiting | ||
Numbness/tingling |
Order the MDASI-HN
Use our convenient online form to order the MDASI-HN for use in your clinical research, clinical practice, funded and non-funded academic research, commercial research, or reproduction in educational materials or other publications.
MDASI-HN Features
- Purpose: To assess the severity of multiple symptoms related to head and neck cancer and the impact of these symptoms on daily functioning
- Population: Patients with symptoms caused by head and neck cancer and its treatment
- Assessment areas: Severity of multiple symptoms and the impact of symptoms on daily functioning during the last 24 hours
- Method: Self-report or interview with research staff; paper-and-pencil or electronic data entry*
- Time required: Five minutes or less
- Scoring: Please see the MDASI User Guide
- Reliability: Cronbach alpha reliability ranges from 0.72 to 0.92
*Electronic data capture offers several benefits:
- Allows symptom monitoring when the patient is away from the hospital
- Is convenient for patients, who can choose web access, personalized patient portals, or smartphones to access questionnaires
- Minimizes missing data, especially in longitudinal studies
- Provides accurate, real-time symptom data at expected time points
- Generates immediate feedback, potentially allowing caregivers to address severe symptoms more effectively
MDASI-HN Language Versions
Click on a linked language to view a sample in PDF format.
Don't see a language you need? Contact us at symptomresearch@mdanderson.org.
Psychometrically and Linguistically Validated | Linguistically Validated |
---|---|
Chinese (Simplified) | Danish |
English | Dutch |
French | |
German | |
Greek | |
Italian | |
Japanese (in process) | |
Spanish | |
Thai (in process) | |
Turkish |
MDASI User Guide
In response to the US Food and Drug Administration's 2009 guidance for the pharmaceutical industry on the use of patient-reported outcomes measures in medical product development to support labeling claims, we have prepared a MDASI User Guide to document the development and psychometric properties of the MDASI and its modules, including the MDASI-HN. The User Guide addresses the recommendations in the FDA guidance and establishes the MDASI's adequacy as a measure to support medical product claims.
Selected MDASI-HN References
Validation
Rosenthal DI, Mendoza TR, Chambers MS, et al. Measuring head and neck cancer symptom burden: the development and validation of the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory, head and neck module. Head Neck 29(10): 923-931, 2007.
Cleeland CS, Mendoza TR, Wang XS, et al. Assessing symptom distress in cancer: The M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory. Cancer 89:1634-1646, 2000.
Vidyasagar N, Manur Gururajachar J. Predicting toxicity for head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy: an independent and external validation of MDASI-HN based nomogram. Rep Pract Oncol Radiother 25(3):355-359, 2020.
Gunn GB, Koukourakis MI, Mendoza TR, Cleeland CS, Rosenthal DI. Linguistic validation of the Greek M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory -- Head and Neck module. Forum Clin Oncol 3(1):17-19, 2012.
Clinical Application
Tam VCW, Ching JCF, Yip SST, et al. Examining patient-reported late toxicity and its association with quality of life and unmet need for symptom management among nasopharyngeal cancer survivors: a cross-sectional survey. Front Oncol 14:1378973, 2024.
Milbury K, Rosenthal DI, Li Y, et al. Dyadic yoga for head and neck cancer patients undergoing chemoradiation and their family caregivers. J Pain Symptom Manage 67(6):490-500, 2024.
Morsy BM, El Domiaty S, Meheissen MAM, et al. Omega-3 nanoemulgel in prevention of radiation-induced oral mucositis and its associated effect on microbiome: a randomized clinical trial. BMC Oral Health 23(1):612, 2023.
Dohopolski MJ, Diao K, Hutcheson KA, et al. Long-term patient-reported outcomes in a population-based cohort following radiotherapy vs surgery for oropharyngeal cancer. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 149(8):697-707, 2023.
Ou M, Wang G, Yan Y, et al. Perioperative symptom burden and its influencing factors in patients with oral cancer: a longitudinal study. Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs 9(8):100073, 2022.
Takahashi M, Hwang M, Misiukiewicz K, et al. Quality of life analysis of HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer patients in a randomized trial of reduced-dose versus standard chemoradiotherapy: 5-year follow-up. Front Oncol 12:859992, 2022.
Alshawa A, Cadena AP, Stephen B, et al. Effects of glutamine for prevention of radiation-induced esophagitis: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Invest New Drugs 39(4):1113-1122, 2021.
Mott FE, Sacks R, Johnson F, et al. Subjective functional outcomes in oropharyngeal cancer treated with induction chemotherapy using the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI). Laryngoscope Investig Otolaryngol 5(6):1104-1109, 2020.
McDowell L, Casswell G, Bressel M, et al. Patient-reported quality of life and toxicity in unilateral and bilateral radiotherapy for early-stage human papillomavirus associated tonsillar carcinoma. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol 21:85-90, 2020.
Pocobelli G, Ziebell R, Fujii M, et al. Symptom burden in long-term survivors of head and neck cancer: patient-reported versus clinical data. EGEMS (Wash DC) 7(1):25, 2019.
Rosenthal DI, Mendoza TR, Chambers MS, et al. The M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck module, a patient-reported outcome instrument, accurately predicts the severity of radiation-induced mucositis. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 72(5): 1355-1361, 2008.
Methodology
Al-Rashdan A, Grendarova P, Yannitsos D, et al. Feasibility and acceptability of implementing site-specific patient-reported outcome measure in head and neck cancer clinics: a prospective institutional study. Adv Radiat Oncol 7(6):101036, 2022.
van Dijk LV, Mohamed ASR, Ferrarotto R, et al.; MD Anderson Symptom Working Group. The impact of induction and/or concurrent chemoradiotherapy on acute and late patient-reported symptoms in oropharyngeal cancer: application of a mixed-model analysis of a prospective observational cohort registry. .Cancer 127(14):2453-2464, 2021.
Mendoza TR, Gunn GB, Fuller CD, Wang XS, Rosenthal DI, Cleeland CS. The utility of using area under the curve to analyze symptom burden during radiation/chemoradiation for head & neck cancer [abstract]. American Society of Clinical Oncology 47th Annual Meeting, Chicago IL, Jun 3-7, 2011. J Clin Oncol29(15 Suppl), 6/2011; 5525.
Shi Q, Rosenthal DI, Mendoza T, Cleeland CS. Using group-based trajectory modeling to examine heterogeneity of cancer-related symptoms [abstract]. International Society for Quality of Life Research 17th Annual Conference, London, England, Oct 27-30, 2010. Qual Life Res 19(Suppl 1): 51, 2010; 1393.
Mendoza T, Rosenthal D, Wang X, Mobley G, Cleeland C. Measuring the symptom burden of head and neck cancer patients undergoing concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy using area under the curve [abstract]. American Society of Clinical Oncology 2009 Annual Meeting, Orlando FL, May 29 - Jun 2, 2009. J Clin Oncol 27(15 Suppl), 5/2009; 6067.
Every MDASI module contains:
all 13 core MDASI symptoms...
pain, fatigue, nausea, disturbed sleep, distress, shortness of breath, difficulty remembering, lack of appetite, drowsiness, dry mouth, sadness, vomiting, numbness/tingling
...and all 6 MDASI interference items
general activity, mood, work, relations with others, walking, enjoyment of life
The MDASI-HN is sensitive to short-term head and neck cancer symptoms. Accurate symptom identification and quantification allow earlier interventions and allows comparison of the symptom burdens associated with various treatment options.
David I. Rosenthal, M.D.
Professor, Radiation Oncology