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Oral health impact profile of head and neck cancer patients after or before oncologic treatment: an observational analytic case-control study

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Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of oral health on the quality of life of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) before and after oncologic treatment.

Methods

Forty cancer-free individuals (Cf group) and 40 HNC patients (Hnc group) were included in this study. Hnc group was also divided into two subgroups: Hnc 1 (pre-cancer therapy, n = 20) and Hnc 2 (post-cancer therapy, n = 20). Participants were asked to complete a short form of Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). The results were statistically analyzed with the multivariate analysis of variance with post-hoc Scheffé multiple comparison.

Results

It was observed a moderate impact on the quality of life on HNC patients, with values on Hnc 2 group significantly higher in the functional limitation when compared to the Hnc 1 group (p < 0.05). When compared to the Cf group, the values found on Hnc group were higher on functional limitation (p < 0.01) and at the total score (p < 0.05), whereas Hnc 2 group had significant superior values on functional limitation (p < 0.01), physical pain (p < 0.05), and total score (p < 0.01)

Conclusion

These results show that there is an oral impairment that depreciates the quality of life of patients with an experience of HNC, principally after treatment, indicating the importance of the inclusion of professionals responsible for dental and oral care with the oncologic team to monitor the oral condition of these patients.

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Correspondence to Vitor T. Stuani.

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Research involving human participants

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Stuani, V.T., Santos, P.S.S., Damante, C.A. et al. Oral health impact profile of head and neck cancer patients after or before oncologic treatment: an observational analytic case-control study. Support Care Cancer 26, 2185–2189 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4066-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4066-8

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