Quality of life and OHRQoL in head and neck cancer patients in Kerman, Iran

BACKGROUND AND AIM:Head and neck cancer is one of the six mostprevalent neoplasms worldwide. Regardless oftumor site, deterioration of basic functions affecting headand neck areas are perceived and affect patients' lives. Theaim of this study was to evaluate quality of life (Short Form) and oral health related quality of life (OHIP-14) in patientswith head and neck cancer.METHODS:This study was conducted on 42 patients being treatedfor head and neck cancer. Data collected from thesurvey included demographic (sex, age, and educational level),quality of life (QoL), and Oral Health Related Quality ofLife (OHRQoL), which were, respectively, measuredby short form-36 and OHIP-14 questionnaire. Cancermeasurements were collected from thepatient’s hospital records.ANOVA and t-tests were used to determine theassociation between QoL scores and the variables.RESULTS:83.3% of the participants were men and 16.7% werewomen. Their mean age was59.39 ± 12.5 years. 33.3%of the participants had oral cancer. 54.8% of patientshad stage III cancer. The mean score of OHIP-14 was21.4 ± 10.11. There was a significant correlation between OHIP-14 and site of cancer, and dose of radiation (P = 0.020and P = 0.009, respectively). The best score of SF-36 was in social function (55.11 ± 30.9) and the worst score of SF-36was in vitality domain (29.76 ± 9.67). There was a significantcorrelation between physical function, vitality and socialactivity with OHIP-14 (P = 0.020, P = 0.011, P = 0.009, respectively).CONCLUSIONS:The QoL scores in Kerman like the other studies were low. Head and neck cancer can have a negativeimpact on QoL. Further research is recommended.