INTRODUCTION: Oral mucositis (OM) has been described as the oral complication most frequently associated with antineoplastic therapy. However, the influence on the quality of life of affected patients is still unclear.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of OM on the oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of patients diagnosed with cancer, who developed chemotherapy- and/or radiotherapy-induced OM.METHODS: This is a cross-sectional evaluation of QoL using oral health impact profile-14 (OHIP-14). The study group comprised a sample of 60 patients diagnosed with cancer, who developed OM during the treatment. The instrument (OHIP-14) composed of seven dimensions was used: functional limitation, physical pain, psychological discomfort, physical deficiency, psychological deficiency, social incapacity, and deficiency.RESULTS: The internal consistency of OHIP-14 measured by the Cronbach's á coefficient was of 0.76. Physical pain attained the highest score (worst quality of life) among the studied dimensions 60.8% (292/480), followed by physical limitation 52.7% (253/480), and psychological discomfort 50.8% (244/480). The dimension 'social limitation' obtained the lowest score 27.2% (131/480). There was statistically significant difference as regards gender (P = 0.021) for physical pain, with greater impact among patients of the male gender.CONCLUSION: Oral-health-related quality of life is significantly affected by OM in individuals diagnosed with cancer.
Adolescent Cross-Sectional Studies