Use of a Patient Information Leaflet on Oro-Dental Care During Radiotherapy

A patient information leaflet (PIL) on oral and dental care during radiotherapy was tested whether and at which time during therapy it would be helpful to increase the knowledge about the therapy and the resulting side effects and the management of these. Additionally, the participants' subjective perception of being well informed about the topic was examined.

Surveys were conducted in August 2018-April 2019, at the University Hospitals Halle and Leipzig (Germany). The study population consisted of patients who were treated with radiotherapy in the head and neck region. Half of them received access to the PIL. The survey was conducted with three different versions of a printout questionnaire, which covered the relevant topics at three different times of therapy. The time the participants were surveyed depended on the time of their first therapy appointment. The items of the questionnaires tested their concrete knowledge and assessed the subjective perception of the level of information received.

Of the 81 participants who received the PIL, 93.8% read it and 92.1% of them considered it helpful. The sample comprised 181 participants aged 32 to 85 years (M = 62.9), of which 135 were males, 42 were females, and 4 were unspecified. Evaluation showed a difference of 4.7%; 18.5%; and 13.6% in correct answers between subjects with and without access to the PIL before, during, and after the therapy, respectively. The assessment of the participants' personal information level was independent of their access to the PIL (chi-squared test, p = 0.89).

Having access to the PIL increased participants' ability to answer the questionnaires correctly. Access to the PIL had no influence on the subjective feeling of being well informed.