Evaluation of treatment results of oral cavity tumors with the University of Washington Quality of Life Questionnaire

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the quality of life in patients with oral cavity tumors who underwent either surgical resection or surgical resection followed by radiotherapy (RT) using the University of Washington Quality of Life Questionnaire (UW-QOL). Patients and Methods: The retrospective study included a total of 40 patients (31 males, 9 females; mean age: 64.1±8.3 years; range, 40 to 85 years) who were diagnosed with primary oral cavity tumors and treated between January 2015 and June 2021. Group 1 (n=20) consisted of patients who underwent surgical resection, while Group 2 (n=20) included patients who underwent surgical resection followed by RT. Each participant completed the UW-QOL questionnaire, and the scores were compared between the two groups. Results: There were no significant differences in pain (p=0.149), recreation (p=0.495), and shoulder (p=0.102) parameters. However, the RT group showed significantly lower scores in appearance (p=0.003), activity (p=0.010), swallowing (p=0.001), chewing (p=0.003), speech (p=0.001), taste (p=0.006), saliva (p=0.001), mood (p=0.002), and anxiety (p=0.007) parameters. There were no significant differences in the rates of the most disturbing parameters, such as pain (p=0.548), activity, recreation, shoulder (p=0.292), mood (p=0.311), and anxiety (p=0.072), in the last seven days (p>0.05). However, those who received RT had significantly higher rates of appearance (p=0.04), swallowing (p=0.001), chewing (p=0.001), speech (p=0.002), taste (p=0.035), and saliva (p=0.008) issues in the last seven days. Conclusion: The data we obtained may be helpful during pretreatment patient counseling. Consequently, patients can be informed about the morbidities they may encounter after treatment, and preliminary information can be given to the patients in line with this information.