The impact of radiation caries in the quality of life of head and neck cancer patients

Author(s)

de Pauli Paglioni, Mariana ^[1] ; Palmier, Natalia Rangel ^[1] ; Prado-Ribeiro, Ana Carolina ^[2] ; Fregnani, Eduardo Rodrigues ^[3] ; Gaviao, Maria Beatriz Duarte ^[4] ; Brandao, Thais Bianca ^[2] ; Lopes, Marcio Ajudarte ^[1] ; Ribeiro, Ana Paula Dias ^[5] ; Migliorati, Cesar Augusto ^[5] ; Santos-Silva, Alan Roger ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Campinas UNICAMP, Piracicaba Dent Sch, Oral Diag Dept, Semiol Area, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Sao Paulo State Canc Inst ICESP FMUSP, Dent Oncol Serv, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Sirio Libanes Hosp, Dept Oral Med, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] Univ Campinas UNICAMP, Piracicaba Dent Sch, Paediat Dent Dept, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[5] Univ Florida, Coll Dent, Gainesville, FL - USA

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: SUPPORTIVE CARE IN CANCER; v. 28, n. 6, p. 2977-2984, JUN 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Purpose The objective of this multicentre study was to verify the relationship between the scores of quality of life (QoL) and the decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) and radiation caries (RC) in patients treated with radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck cancer, and through this to determine if RC is capable of causing a significant decrease in the QoL. Methods One hundred patients were divided into 2 groups: patients with at least 1 year of RT completion who developed RC (study group, n = 50); and patients with at least 1 year of RT completion who did not develop RC (control group, n = 50). All patients answered the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the University of Washington quality of life (UW-QoL) questionnaire, which was divided into physical and social-emotional functioning domains and evaluated the DMFT index score. Results The mean score of QoL was 927.2 in the control group and 878.1 in the study group (P = 0.24). The mean score of DMFT was 30.5 in the study group and 20.7 in the control group (P = 0.001). The items recreation and saliva, which belong to the physical function domain, showed a statistically significant difference between the study and control groups (P = 0.031 and P = 0.047, respectively). Saliva was the item with the higher number of patient complaints in both groups. Conclusion RC had a negative impact on the QoL of HNC patients. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/18402-8 - Evaluation of the direct effects of radiation on the enamel, dentin and dental pulp of head and neck cancer patients
• Grantee: Alan Roger dos Santos Silva
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants