Establishment and Validation of a Predictive Model for Radiation-Associated Aspiration Pneumonia in Patients with Radiation-Induced Dysphagia after Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Table 1
Demographics of dysphagic patients after radiotherapy for NPC.
Characteristic
Training cohort ()
Internal validation cohort ()
External validation cohort ()
Age, years (<51 vs. ≥51)
149 (49.3) vs. 153 (50.7)
71 (47.0) vs. 80 (53.0)
73 (36.0) vs. 130 (64.0)
0.010
Sex (male vs. female)
232 (76.8) vs. 70 (23.2)
113 (74.8) vs. 38 (25.2)
140 (69.0) vs. 63 (31.0)
0.137
Current smoking (no vs. yes)
280 (92.7) vs. 22 (7.3)
128 (84.8) vs. 23 (15.2)
NA vs. NA
0.008
Diet
0.864
Oral diet
282 (93.4)
140 (92.7)
NA
Gastrostomy
9 (3.0)
4 (2.7)
NA
Nasogastric
11 (3.6)
7 (4.6)
NA
Kubota water drinking test
<0.001
Grade 2
188 (62.2)
93 (61.6)
48 (23.6)
Grade 3
50 (16.6)
21 (13.9)
53 (26.1)
Grade 4
55 (18.2)
29 (19.2)
95 (46.8)
Grade 5
9 (3.0)
8 (5.3)
7 (3.4)
Steroid (no vs. yes)
111 (36.8) vs. 191 (63.2)
49 (32.5) vs. 102 (67.5)
143 (70.4) vs. 60 (29.6)
<0.001
of the GTVnx, Gy (<70 vs.National Natural Science Foundation of China≥70)
79 (26.2) vs. 223 (73.8)
27 (17.9) vs. 124 (82.1)
79 (39.0) vs. 124 (61.0)
<0.001
of the GTVnd, Gy (<64 vs. ≥64)
165 (54.6) vs. 137 (45.4)
72 (47.7) vs. 79 (52.3)
110 (54.2) vs. 93 (45.8)
0.341
Radiotherapy methods (conventional vs. IMRT)
125 (41.4) vs. 177 (58.6)
97 (64.2) vs. 54 (35.8)
85 (41.9) vs. 118 (58.1)
<0.001
Neutrophil count, ×109/L (<4.47 vs. ≥4.47)
150 (49.7) vs. 152 (50.3)
77 (51.0) vs. 74 (49.0)
91 (44.8) vs. 112 (55.2)
0.441
Hemoglobin, g/L (<127.5 vs. ≥127.5)
151 (50.0) vs. 151 (50.0)
85 (56.3) vs. 66 (43.7)
NA vs. NA
0.206
LDL, mmol/L (<3.25 vs. ≥3.25)
147 (48.7) vs. 155 (51.3)
86 (57.0) vs. 65 (43.0)
96 (47.3) vs. 107 (52.7)
0.155
Prealbumin, mg/L (<0.24 vs. ≥0.24)
149 (49.3) vs. 153 (50.7)
87 (57.6) vs. 64 (42.4)
NA vs. NA
0.096
Albumin, g/L (<39.3 vs. ≥39.3)
150 (49.7) vs. 152 (50.3)
76 (50.3) vs. 75 (49.7)
57 (28.1) vs. 146 (71.9)
<0.001
hsCRP, mg/L (<4.70 vs. ≥4.70)
151 (50.0) vs. 151 (50.0)
72 (47.7) vs. 79 (52.3)
140 (69.0) vs. 63 (31.0)
<0.001
ESR, mm/h (<20 vs. ≥20)
145 (48.0) vs. 157 (52.0)
68 (45.0) vs. 83 (55.0)
115 (56.7) vs. 88 (43.3)
0.062
TNM stage
<0.001
Stage 1
8 (2.6)
4 (2.6)
2 (1.0)
Stage 2
35 (11.6)
34 (22.5)
17 (8.4)
Stage 3
162 (53.7)
54 (35.8)
64 (31.5)
Stage 4
97 (32.1)
59 (39.1)
120 (59.1)
Secondary radiotherapy (no vs. yes)
273 (90.4) vs. 29 (9.6)
130 (86.1) vs. 21 (13.9)
NA vs. NA
0.168
Chemotherapy (no vs. yes)
243 (80.5) vs. 59 (19.5)
118 (78.1) vs. 33 (21.9)
NA vs. NA
0.563
Median follow-up duration (IQR; years)
2.5 (0.7-5.4)
2.5 (1.0-6.0)
2.3 (1.2-4.4)
0.381
Pneumonia (no vs. yes)
243 (80.5) vs. 59 (19.5)
119 (78.8) vs. 32 (21.2)
172 (84.7) vs. 31 (15.3)
0.312
Data are shown as numbers (%) or medians (interquartile ranges).
