Assessment of oral health-related quality of life among head-and-neck cancer patients attending cancer care center at Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu – A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Oral health is closely related to general health and people’s quality of life (QoL), through affecting their oral functions and social interactions. This study aims to assess the oral health-related QoL among head-and-neck cancer (HNC) patients attending cancer care center at Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among 340 HNC patients between August and October 2019 attending Government Arignar Anna Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Institute in Kanchipuram District of Tamil Nadu. The questionnaire has two parts. The 1st part consists of demographic characteristics and cancer-related details. The 2nd part was the European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer QoL in HNC patients (EORTC QLQ H&N-35) questionnaire. Among 340 patients, 72.4% were male and 27.6% were female. The majority of them had Stage II cancer. The main factors affecting oral health related QoL (OHRQoL) were taking painkillers, loss of sexual interest, difficulty in social contact, teeth problems, loss of taste, and smell senses. Significant association found between pain (P = 0.000), sense (P = 0.003), speech (P = 0.000), social eating (P = 0.016), social contact (P = 0.005), teeth problems (P = 0.031), dry mouth (P = 0.000), sticky saliva (P = 0.000), cough (0.002), feeling ill (P = 0.003), nutritional supplement (P = 0.042), and lost weight (P = 0.034) with respect to various treatment modalities. Based on the OHRQoL scores, those who were treated surgically alone had better QoL than others. We found that surgically treated HNC patients had better OHRQoL than others. Thus, Oral-Health related Quality of Life assessment can be used to analyse the outcome of treatment, patient satisfaction and their sense of self. We need to build a broader care protocol which satisfies/improves the demands arising from the patients.