Nutritional Status and Quality of Life in Patients with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Before and After Surgical Oncological Treatment: A Single-Center Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common of head and neck malignancies in well-developed countries. In most cases, patients with OSCC experience a degree of nutritional status disturbances and decreased quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to compare nutritional status and QoL in 51 patients before and after surgery for OSCC. Material/Methods Fifty-one eligible patients with OSCC were followed during a 3-year period (2019–2022). For all patients, we determined body mass index (BMI), serum albumin (ALB), prognostic nutritional index, and nutritional risk index before and after treatment. Also, all patients completed a standardized QoL questionnaire before and after treatment. The obtained data were compared between the groups by using the t test and multivariate Cox regression. Results The values of BMI and NRI were statistically significantly different between the preoperative and postoperative measurements (24.1 kg/m 2 vs 21.1 kg/m 2 , and 103 vs 100.1, respectively, P =0.001), while values of ALB and prognostic nutritional index did not differ significantly (41.35 g/L vs 39.1 g/L, and 48.5 vs 46.2, respectively). Dysphagia ( P =0.03) and chewing problems (P =0.04) were found to be the 2 most important factors decreasing the QoL of patients. Conclusions Based on our results, BMI and NRI were the most sensitive parameters of nutritional status. Dysphagia and chewing problems were the 2 most important factors affecting the QoL in patients with OSCC.