Head and Neck Radiotherapy Short-Term Oral Complications: Effect on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life at Dharmais...

To describe the effect of short-term oral complications of head and neck cancer (HNC) radiotherapy on patients' quality of life (QoL). Radiotherapy is one of the most common HNC therapy modality, either as the primary therapy or in combination with others. However, high-dose radiotherapy can cause both short- and long-term oral complications. Short-term oral complications of radiotherapy include oral mucositis, hyposalivation, dysphagia, and sensory disturbances which can affect the patients' ability to speak, chewing, and swallowing, leading to weight loss and a decline in QoL, thus delaying the therapy process.

This is a cross-sectional study at the Dharmais Cancer Hospital in March to April 2024, with a total of 53 participants. The data collected included participants' sociodemographic profiles, oral conditions, and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) measured with the Oral Health Impact Profile 14 (OHIP-14) questionnaire, which was adapted to Indonesian language.

Kendall and Spearman tests with a significance level of 5% were used to analyze the correlations between variables for bivariate analysis.

Study participants consisted of 32 males (60.4%) and 21 females (39.6%), with the majority (22 participants, 41.5%) aged 46 to 55 years old. Nasopharyngeal cancer was reported to be the most prevalent HNC diagnosis in this study at 69.8%. All study participants (100%) experienced xerostomia and had clinical oral dryness as their short-term radiotherapy-related oral complications. The distribution of OHIP-14 scores showed that most of the participants (73.6%) had moderate OHRQoL. Xerostomia and dysphagia were shown to have statistically significant influence on OHIP-14 score (Spearman test, p < 0.05).

The majority of HNC patients treated with radiotherapy in Dharmais Cancer Hospital have moderate QoL. Dysphagia and xerostomia were reported as the primary drivers of reduced QoL in our study, indicating potential key targets for preventive and management strategies in HNC radiotherapy patients.