Long-term health-related quality of life following an online rehabilitation program after total laryngectomy: a 3-year retrospective longitudinal study.

This study aimed to evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) trajectories after participation in an online rehabilitation course. A retrospective observational longitudinal study was conducted in accordance with the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines. We analyzed 48 patients who completed a multimodal online rehabilitation course in 2022. The curriculum covered anatomical foundations and practical techniques for voice production, deglutition, respiration, and olfactory recovery. HRQoL was assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 instrument at baseline (T0) and annually for 3 years (T1, T2, T3). All scores were linearly transformed to a 0-100 scale. Five patients were censored due to mortality during follow-up. Longitudinal exploratory analyses were performed using repeated-measures comparisons where appropriate. Among the 43 survivors at 3 years, clinically relevant longitudinal improvements were observed in global health status/QoL (from 58.4 ± 18.2 to 85.7 ± 9.8, +27.3 points), physical functioning (+20.9 points), role functioning (+22.5 points), and social functioning (+19.5 points). Symptom burden decreased markedly, particularly fatigue (-22.5 points), dyspnea (-22.7 points), and pain (-17.3 points). Patients with TEVP (tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis) complications (n = 3), defined as an exploratory group, tended to have less favorable recovery trajectories and lower global QoL scores at 3 years compared to those without complications (P = 0.012). The most pronounced improvements occurred within the first post-intervention year and remained stable thereafter. Patients participating in the online rehabilitation program demonstrated sustained improvements in HRQoL over the follow-up period; however, the absence of a control group precludes causal inference.