ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the factors relating to oral infection in elderly patients treated with head and neck radiotherapy for malignant lymphoma and to provide the clinical basis for the prevention and treatment of oral infections.Methods A total of 97 patients treated with head and neck radiotherapy for malignant lymphoma from March 2007 to March 2012 were enrolled.The factors relating to oral infection after head and neck radiation therapy were analyzed.Results Totally 25 patients (25.77％,25/97) had oral infections.The single-factor analysis showed that education degree,occupation,cancer staging,oral self-cleaning,oral environment,chemotherapy were the important factors relating to oral infection (x2 =8.634,6.863,9.237,11.870,7.563,8.012,P＜0.01).The incidence of oral infection had no significant differences between male and female patients.Conclusions There are many factors relating to oral infection in elderly patients treated with head and neck radiotherapy for malignant lymphoma,and poor oral self-cleaning,history of gum disease and chemotherapy are the important related factors.