Oral health-related quality of life among children undergoing cancer therapy

Abstract

Background: Despite much interest in oral complications in cancer patients and studies reporting their prevalence, aetiology and management, there has been little understanding of how they affect the patients and the family. The aim of this study was, therefore, to assess the impact of oral complications on life quality for children undergoing cancer therapy. Methods: Seventy 6-14 years old paediatric patients undergoing cancer therapy in the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong participated in this study. A clinical examination of the dentition and oral soft tissues was performed using criteria suggested by the World Health Organization. Clinical examination evaluated the status of: i) dental caries (DMFT/dmft Index), ii) periodontal health (CPI Index), iii) infection, such as herpes and candidiasis, iv) thrombocytopathy in the form of oral petechiae and spontaneous gingival bleeding, v) xerostomia, and vi) mucositis (WHO Mucositis Scale). Two questionnaires were filled by the children and their parents: i) the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ), and ii) a questionnaire contained simple closed questions to collect the information of oral health habits of children and demographic data from the parents. Results: Higher CPQ scores were found in children with mucositis (p < 0.001), dental caries (p < 0.001), children who were born in mainland China (p < 0.05), or parents of lower education or income level (p < 0.05). In multiple regression analyses, mucositis and dental caries were the significant predictors (p < 0.001) of the higher CPQ scores among the various parents and children characteristics collected in this survey. Conclusions: The findings of this study showed that paediatric cancer patients with mucositis and dental caries had poorer oral health-related quality of life.