The Impact of Living with Home Enteral Tube Feeding
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Impact of Living with Home Enteral Feeding; Perspectives from People Who Have Had a Diagnosis of Head and Neck Cancer
IRAS ID
225544
Contact name
Sorrel Burden
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 2 days
Research summary
Home Enteral Feeding (HEF) involves being fed directly into the gastrointestinal tract via a tube. HEF is indicated in people with head and neck cancer (HNC) when they are unable meet their nutritional requirements orally. This may be due to treatment side effects or swallowing difficulties due to tumour positioning. People with HNC may require HEF long term after completion of cancer treatment.
Having a feeding tube in place can have implications on a person’s social life, family life and relationships. There are currently no patient-derived tools or outcome measures to allow health professionals to review and fully appreciate the impact of HEF on the everyday lives of people with HNC. Having a greater understanding of the impact of HEF may improve clinical decision-making by promoting more patient-centred care.
Study participation will involve undertaking a 30-45 minute interview with the researcher. Eligibility criteria comprises adults over the age of 18 years who have had a diagnosis of HNC and are home enterally fed, those who are able to undertake an interview, and those who have not received or are not due to receive further cancer treatment for 4 weeks. Interviews will be conducted in participants’ homes or local clinics. Interviews will aim to explore the impact of HEF amongst people with HNC. Information gained will also be used in a subsequent study. The subsequent study will aim to generate and validate a questionnaire that can be completed by people with HNC who are home enterally fed about the impact of HEF. This questionnaire could be used by health professionals to inform practice.
The study is funded by the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Greater Manchester.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NW/0505
Date of REC Opinion
16 Oct 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion