Broderick, D, Lowe, D, Kanatas, A orcid.org/0000-0003-2025-748X et al. (1 more author) (2020) How much of a problem is too much saliva for patients following head and neck cancer. British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 58 (9). E51-E56. ISSN 0266-4356
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to report the clinical characteristic of those patients reporting “I have too much saliva” following treatment for head and neck cancer. As a new addition to the saliva question of the University of Washington quality of life questionnaire (UW-QoL), another aim is to make recommendations on how this new option should be scored and handled. Patients treated with curative intent were recruited between April 2017 and October 2019. Assessment was at the first baseline clinic a median (IQR) of 194 (125–249) days after diagnosis and 103 (71–162) days after the end of treatment. Patients completed the modified UW-QoL version 4, the Patient Concerns Inventory (PCI), Distress Thermometer, and the EQ-5D-5L. In 288 patients, saliva was of normal consistency for 80 (28%), less than normal but enough for 57 (20%), too little for 91 (32%), too much for 45 (16%), and there was no saliva at all for 15 (5%). Of patients with too much saliva, two-thirds (31/45, 69%) had tumours located in the oral cavity and 18/40 (45%) had the highest rates of free flap use during surgery. Salivation response was associated strongly with the other measures of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and the PCI. Of those with too much saliva their results were similar to or worse than those with too little or no saliva at all. In conclusion, having too much saliva is relatively less frequently reported but is an important HRQoL consideration. Its scoring in the UW-QoL should be at a level similar to that of too little saliva.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of an article published in British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | EQ-5D; Head and neck cancer; Quality of life; Questionnaire; Saliva; UW-QOL |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Dentistry (Leeds) > School of Dentistry Visitors (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 16 Mar 2020 11:35 |
Last Modified: | 16 Jan 2023 10:27 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.bjoms.2020.05.033 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:158212 |
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