Oral health‐related quality of life in southern Chinese following radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Abstract

Although the complications of head and neck radiotherapy in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) have been described, there is limited information on the effect of oral complications on oral health related quality of life. The aim of this study was to describe the psychosocial and functional impact of oral conditions in southern Chinese following radiotherapy for NPC. A cross-sectional study design was used with a sample of 109 subjects including NPC survivors, newly diagnosed NPC cases and a control group. Oral health related quality of life was assessed through the SF-36 and the Oral Health Impact Profile measures and a dry mouth measure. Data on socio-demographic variables and treatment seeking were also collected. The psychosocial and functional impact of oral conditions as revealed by the health status measures was significantly greater in NPC survivors than newly diagnosed NPC cases and controls. The oral specific and condition specific measures appeared to discriminate more effectively between groups than the generic measure. NPC survivors sought significantly more dental treatment than the other groups. The oral complications of radiotherapy for NPC, notably sequelae of salivary gland damage, have a significant negative effect on oral health related quality of life and result in an increased burden of dental care in the long-term.

Interobserver variation in parotid gland delineation: a study of its impact on intensity-modulated radiotherapy solutions with a systematic review of the literature

“…It has a negative impact on patients' quality of life and oral health, and can lead to difficulties in chewing and swallowing [3][4][5]. It can also affect speech and taste, and predisposes these patients to dental caries, oral infections, mucosal ulcerations and osteoradionecrosis of the mandible [6].…”

Current understanding and management of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

“…There were 3 randomized trials that evaluated adjuvant chemotherapy all of which showed negative results [71,78,79]. Thus, there is still debate on the efficacy of the adjuvant chemotherapy in the Impairment of quality of life, mainly attributable to radiation is a serious problem for survivors of NPC treated with radiotherapy or CRT [81,82]. The use of chemotherapy in more advanced cases adds to the side effects, which include ototoxicity associated with cisplatin.…”

Quality of Life and Radiotherapy Complications of Chinese Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients at Different 3DCRT Stages

“…complications such as xerostomia (dryness of mouth), hearing impairment, and hypomnesia (Chen et al, 2000;McMillan et al, 2004;Yeh et al, 2005;Sumitsawan et al, 2009). The complications resulted in chronic health problems such as discomfort and pains and resulted in chronic mental stress such as sleep disturbances, and increasing rates of anxiety, which seriously had a bad effect on QOL (McMillan et al, 2004).…”

“…The complications resulted in chronic health problems such as discomfort and pains and resulted in chronic mental stress such as sleep disturbances, and increasing rates of anxiety, which seriously had a bad effect on QOL (McMillan et al, 2004). Some papers reported that socio-demographic variables and cancer-or treatment-related variables played a significant role in the QOL of NPC patients, such as the dose of 3DCRT, gender, age, dialect, economic status, occupational status, educational level, monthly income, economic status, numbers of comorbidities, treatment method, and RT dose (Fang et al, 2002;Y.…”