Swedish Translation and Cultural Adaptation of the Head and Neck Patient Symptom Checklist: An Instrument to Screen for Nutrition Impact Symptoms in Clinical Practice and Research.

Selection bias was possible because health care professionals and patients were not recruited consecutively. The content validity ratings came from 9 health care professionals at 2 hospitals, so they may not represent a wider group. Patients were newly diagnosed, treated with curative intent, and had performance status 0 to 2, so the results may not apply to patients who spent over 50% of waking hours in a bed or chair or were completely disabled. Not all 522 patients completed the checklist at every follow-up; at 24 months, 285 filled it in and 276 completed all single items. The internal consistency of the eating interference items could not be calculated because too few values were available. The study checked translation, relevance, and score consistency, not whether using the checklist improves care or predicts outcomes. The version is Swedish, and patients who could not understand Swedish were excluded.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the Swedish Cancer Society (grant numbers 2015/363, 2018/502, and 21 1419 Pj).

Do not read this as evidence that using the Swedish HNSC improves nutrition or swallowing outcomes. The study checked wording, expert-rated relevance, and whether patient scores hung together; it did not test patient outcomes or treatment effects.