A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE AFTER ABLATIVE SURGERY OF HEAD AND NECK CANCER IN A CAUCASIAN POPULATION

Authors

  • K Y Dong
  • M S Chan
  • Siew Tin Ong

Keywords:

quality of life, head and neck cancer, Caucasians

Abstract

Twenty-one patients who underwent ablative surgery for head and neck cancer at Bristol Dental Hospital and School, England between the years 1996 and 2002 were enrolled in the study. A self-completed questionnaire based on Head and Neck Specific measures was addressed to the patients. The overall post-operative quality of life among these patients is acceptable. About half of the patients complained of moderate to severe difficulty in opening mouth wide (55%) and dry mouth (45%) and about one-third had major problems in swallowing solid food (36%), sleep disturbance (32%), trouble eating and enjoying meals (32%) and speech problems (32%). The study shows a tendency for the quality of life to improve steadily with increasing post-operative interval.
It is hoped that the results will provide an insight into the patients' functional and psychological recovery, which will in turn help to facilitate the planning of appropriate strategies to improve their quality of life.

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Published

2018-06-29

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 1 (2002)

Section

Original/Research Article

License

  1. The Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Malaya holds the copyright of the published manuscript including all its components such as supplementary information, graphical contents and raw data without any restrictions.
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  3. After acceptance for publication in Ann Dent UM, the author(s) have the right to use any of its components in whole or in part for academic purposes such as, presentation in scientific conferences and seminars.

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