Perioperative symptom burden and its influencing factors in patients with oral cancer: A longitudinal study

The aim of this study was to identify the symptom burden of perioperative oral cancer patients, its trajectory, and the factors influencing it.

A longitudinal, repeated measures design with consecutively identified sampling was used to recruit oral cancer patients scheduled for surgical treatment. Data collected included sociodemographic and clinical information, nutritional risk by the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002, and symptom burden by M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck Module (MDASI-HN) at preoperation, 7 days postsurgery, and 1 month postsurgery.

Perioperative patients with oral cancer had multiple symptoms. Pain, difficulty swallowing/chewing, and mouth/throat sores (61.9%-76.1%) were the most prevalent symptoms before surgery. The symptom burden was the highest at 7 days after surgery, with the most prevalent symptoms, including difficulty swallowing/chewing, difficulty with voice/speech, and problems with mucus (87.8%-95.4%). At 1 month postsurgery, the 3 main symptoms were numbness or tingling, difficulty swallowing/chewing, and difficulty with voice/speech (all 87.8%). Treatment stage, job, comorbidity, cancer stage, adjuvant therapy, and Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 score were correlated with symptom burdens.

Our study illustrates that perioperative oral cancer patients have multiple symptoms and high symptom burdens, especially at 7 days postsurgery, with prominent symptoms and symptom burdens varying with the treatment stage.