Assessment of quality of life of oral cancer patients after reconstruction with radial forearm free flaps / 中华口腔医学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the quality of life in patients who had resection of oral cancer and reconstruction by radial forearm free flaps.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Quality of life of 49 patients was assessed by means of the 14-item oral health impact profile (OHIP-14) and the medical outcomes study-short form-36 (SF-36) questionnaires 12 months after operation.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Forty-one questionnaires were collected (84%). SF-36 the highest-scoring domain were physical role (92.9 ± 2.6) and bodily pain (82.6 ± 5.7), the lowest-scoring domain were vitality (61.5 ± 9.1), followed by role emotion (64.9 ± 6.8) and social functioning (65.2 ± 8.2). OHIP-14 the best-scoring domain were handicap (37.1 ± 15.1) and psychological disability (45.7 ± 11.9), the best-scoring domain were physical pain (64.2 ± 11.7) and functional limitation (61.9 ± 12.9).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Radial forearm free flaps for reconstruction of oral defects after cancer resection could significantly influence the patients' quality of life.</p>