OHRQOL: PSYCHOSOCIAL & PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING IN ORAL CANCER PATIENTS

Abstract

The study was to assess the impact of Oral Cancer on the Oral Health-related Quality of Life [OHRQoL] of active cancer patients.

In this study, a cross-sectional design was used on 71 active cancer patients, aged between 20 and 59 years, seeking treatment at three government teaching hospitals in Lahore.

The data was collected in a two-month period using the socio-dental indicator of Oral Health Impact Profile [OHIP-14] by carrying out an interview with all patients. SPSS version 25 was used for data analysis and included descriptive statistics such as Frequency distribution. Kruskal Wallis test was run to assess the impact and significance of oral cancer on the OHRQoL of the patients. The level of significance was set at 5%.

Of the 71 adult Cancer patients aged 20-59 years, the male and female frequency was 84.5% and 15.5% respectively. With the floor of the mouth, a site of the Oral cavity with the highest percentage of Tumour/Lesion presence (42.3%) and the pharynx being the least involved (4.2%), most of the patients had no lymph node involvement (63.4%) and had started their Cancer treatment within the week (32.4%).

Age, Gender, Lymph node involvement and Metastasis showed no significance in terms of the Cancer impact on QoL. However, the Tumour/Lesion Site [p<0.001] and time since receiving Treatment [p<0.05] showed a significant impact on the Physical and functional discomfort of the OHIP-14 Domains. Similarly, the Tumour/Lesion site {p<0.05] and time since receiving treatment [p<0.05] showed a significant impact on psychological and social discomfort. Oral cancer and Oncological treatment greatly affect the diagnosed patient and his/her OHRQoL.