title: Evaluation of quality of life of patients with oral cavity cancer in three counties of south Bulgaria.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the quality of life of patients with oral cavity cancer in three counties of South Bulgaria.
  
  
  METHODS
  A standard questionnaire was developed to evaluate the social status. Twenty two patients with oral cancer were interviewed (diagnoses by ICD 9th Revision 141-149). SPSS statistical software version 8.0 was used for statistical analysis employing the alternative analysis and ANOVA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral cancer affects 1) mostly men-68.2%, 2) smokers-59.1% (of the people we interviewed, smoking regularly twenty and more cigarettes daily), and 3) people who consume alcohol on regular basis - 40.9% of the interviewees. The life quality of the interviewed people was evaluated on a specially developed five-degree scale. 22.7% of the interviewed people were classified as first scale group characerised with speaking and alimentary disorders, impaired aesthetics and pains in the oral cavity. 36.4% were scored as the second scale group--these had speaking disorders and disorders of the alimentary tract, oral cavity pain without impairment of the orofacial aesthetics. 27.3% were classified as third scale group in which the patients had only two functions impaired. Group five contained 4.5% of all patients with no manifest disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that oral cancer patients need a lot of prosthetic care to mend their oral defects and a lot of rehabilitation to restore their ability to function socially, a task which must be realized by a rehabilitation team including the general dental practitioner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, Medical University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stoykova
authors.forename: Nonka G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Mateva
authors.forename: Teodora N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Novakova
mesh_terms: D002031:Bulgaria; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires