• 12/21/2004
  • Fu-Min Fang et al.
  • Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 2004 34(11):641-646

Background:
Health-related quality of life (HRQL) data are becoming an important supplement to information pertaining to treatment outcome for cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the HRQL outcome for oral cancer survivors after surgery plus postoperative radiotherapy (RT) and to investigate the variables associated with their HRQL.

Methods:
Sixty-six oral cancer patients with cancer-free survival after surgery plus postoperative RT of >2 years were enrolled. The Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire in the Taiwan Chinese version was self-reported by all participants at the clinics. The linear regression model was used to analyze the socio-demographic and medical-related variables correlated with the physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) in SF-36.

Results:
The mean scores of the eight functional domains in the SF-36 were markedly lower for oral cancer survivors compared with the Taiwanese and US norms. Those with older age, lower annual family income, more advanced cancer stage and flap reconstruction had significantly worse PCS, and those with lower annual family income, unemployment and more advanced cancer stage reported significantly worse MCS. This model accounts for 63% of variance in PCS, and 51% in MCS.

Conclusions:
These results provided patient-reported evidence that oral cancer survivors lived with a worse HRQL compared with the general Taiwanese population. Socio-economic factors and cancer stage were important factors correlated with their HRQL.

Authors:
Fu-Min Fang(1), Wen-Ling Tsai(2), Chih-Yen Chien(3), Herng-Chia Chiu(4) and Chong-Jong Wang(1)

Authors’ Affiliation:
(1) Department of Radiation Oncology, (3) Department of Otolaryngology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, (4) Department of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung and (2) Department of Cosmetic Application and Management, Yung Ta Institute of Technology and Commerce, Pintung, Taiwan