Health related quality of life of oral cancer patients who receive radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy in a tertiary referral centre in Sri Lanka- A prospective study

PurposeTo assess the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of oral cancer patients who receive radiotherapy (RT) with or without chemotherapy and the changes in HRQOL. Patients and MethodsA prospective study was conducted among oral cancer patients who receive RT with or without chemotherapy. Two European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaires: EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-H&N35, were used to assess HRQOL before RT, during the last week of RT and three months after RT. High scores of symptom domains and items indicate low HRQOL and wise versa for functional and Global health status domains. ResultsNinety oral cancer patients were included. The majority of the sample were males (88%) and 68% were aged 50-69. The median scores of all the domains and items in EORTC QLQ-H&N35 and symptom domains and items in EORTC QLQ-C30 were higher during the last week of RT compared to the baseline. The functional domains of EORTC QLQ-C30 showed the highest median values (100.0) at baseline but much less values (<66.7) during last week of RT. Except for Appetite loss item, all the symptom domains and items scores were lower at three months after RT than the median scores during last week of RT. Statistically significant differences were observed in almost all the changes in HRQOL between three-time frames (p<0.05). ConclusionsHRQOL of oral cancer patients declined due to RT from baseline to the last week of RT and improved three months after RT from last week of RT but had not returned to the baseline level.