title: Quality of life, taste, olfactory and oral function following high-dose chemotherapy and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.
abstract: Multiple oral complaints develop following high-dose chemo/radiotherapy and hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) which can influence quality of life. The purpose of this investigation was to assess quality of life, oral function, taste and smell in a cohort of patients following HCT. A general quality of life survey (the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)) Quality of Life (QOL) questionnaire (QLQ-C30), with an added oral symptom and function scale and assessment of taste and smell was administered to a consecutive series of patients at day 90-100 post HCT. General QOL was impacted by fatigue, affecting physical, social emotional and cognitive function. While oral function scales appeared to be little affected at day 90-100 post HCT, abnormalities of taste were reported. Reports of changes in taste and smell appeared to parallel each other and changes remained at the time of the survey post-HCT. Change in taste appeared to be closely associated with dry mouth. Patients appeared to have difficulty in differentiating sour and bitter, which had been more affected than salt and sweet taste. Females appeared to report greater changes in taste than males. Increased smell sensitivity and taste change resulted in changes in food preparation in some cases, as did reported increase in sensitivity to sour and bitter taste. Acute complications are well known to affect QOL during the early period following HCT, but little assessment of long-term changes in oral QOL and taste has been conducted following transplant. The EORTC QLQ C-30 questionnaire with the oral addendum provides a measure of the quality of life and oral function, and may provide useful outcome measures for assessment of oral care prevention and management in HCT patients.
authors.affiliation: Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplantation Program of British Columbia, Vancouver Hospital and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parry
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nevill
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stevenson-Moore
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000209:etiology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012737:Sex Factors; D013651:Taste Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000209:etiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents