Evaluation of quality of life in posttreatment upper aerodigestive tract cancer patients.

Abstract

Cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract constitute approximately 4% of all malignancies. Posttreatment cancer patient faces serious adversities that affect the quality of life. Out of the various scales available to measure the quality of life, we chose the quality of life-oral cancer (QOL-OC), which was developed and evaluated by Nie et al. in 2018. The aim of our study was to assess the quality of life in posttreatment upper aerodigestive tract cancer patients in a tertiary care center and also to check the reliability and validity of the questionnaire QOL-OC. We communicated with 89 patients who were pathologically tested positive for upper aero digestive tract cancer from January 2019 to December 2019. The most prevalent adversity was found to be altered salivary flow, followed by diet and difficulty while eating. The QOL-OC was found to be a highly valid and reliable questionnaire. The study points out regarding the prevalence of various adversities in post treatment cancer patients, a discussion has also been made suggesting the importance of multidisciplinary approach that should be provided in such patients. Finally, the study also concludes regarding the generalizability of the questionnaire QOL-OC.