title: Oral Health Related Quality of Life in Patients of Head and Neck Cancer Attending Cancer Hospital of Bhopal City, India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To assess the oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) of head and neck cancer patients and to find association between QoL, demographic and disease variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was conducted on 153 patients diagnosed and being treated for head and neck cancer in Jawaharlal Nehru Cancer Hospital, India. Data collected from the survey included demographic details and OHRQoL, which was measured by European Organization of Research for Treatment of Cancer QoL questionnaire head & neck-35. Cancer measurements (location of tumor, stages of cancer, treatment type) were collected from the patient's hospital records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of the population 84 (54.9%) belonged to 41-60 years age group and most of them were male (78.4%). The most frequent site of the primary tumor was the oral cavity (71.3%) and the majority of patients had Stage II and III cancer. Main factors affecting QoL were loss of weight, use of painkillers, sticky saliva, reduced mouth opening and problems in social eating. Significant association found between pain (P = 0.044), swallowing (P = 0.018), sense (P = 0.001), Social eating (P = 0.003), social contact (P = 0.008), reduced mouth opening (P = 0.008) with respect to type of treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that there was a significant reduction in the QoL in cancer patients resulting from myriad forms of cancers. An assessment of the QoL and symptoms can help the dentist to direct attention to most important symptoms and provide counseling for appropriate interventions towards improving QoL outcomes and the response to the treatment.
authors.affiliation: Professor & Head, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Rajasthan Dental College and Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
authors.forename: Girish R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Shavi
authors.affiliation: Post-graduate Student, Department of Public Health Dentistry, People's College of Dental Science & Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Bhanupriya
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thakur
authors.affiliation: Professor & Head, Department of Public Health Dentistry, People's College of Dental Science & Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Ajay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhambal
authors.affiliation: Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, People's College of Dental Science & Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Swapnil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: Post-graduate Student, Department of Public Health Dentistry, People's College of Dental Science & Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Vani
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Post-graduate Student, Department of Public Health Dentistry, People's College of Dental Science & Research Centre, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Ankita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shukla
keywords: European Organization of Research for Treatment of Cancer-Head and Neck-35; head and neck cancer; quality of life