Self-reported oral health status: Perspectives of patients undergoing therapy for cancer of the head and neck region, in the eThekwini District, KZN

There is a dearth of published evidence related to understanding oral health needs for patients undergoing therapy for cancer of the head and neck region in South Africa. This study aimed to assess perceived oral health status of patients undergoing therapy for cancer of the head and neck region, in eTthekwini district, KwaZulu-Natal. This was a cross-sectional case study using quantitative data to determine patients’ perspectives of oral health status and need. The study population comprised 235 voluntary patients (aged between 20-70 years old), undergoing treatment or follow up for cancer therapy of the head and neck region, in a public tertiary referral hospital in the eThekwini district, KwaZulu-Natal. Purposive sampling technique was used for participant selection. The research instrument comprised a combination of two previously validated questionnaires: a core questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30, Version 3.0) and the head and neck cancer specific module (EORTC H&N-35). Data was analysed using the statistical package for software sciences (SPSS), version 24. More than half of the study population were male (60%;n= 141). The mean age was 54.38 (SD= 12.30). The results indicate that 14.5% (n=34) were employed, 46.4% (n=109) were unemployed because of cancer and 39.1% (n=92) were unemployed due to other reasons (old age, housewife). Oral cavity cancer was the most common (n=91; 38.7%), followed by laryngeal cancer (n= 53; 22.6%) among all the other head and neck cancers. Males(n=50; 21.3%) were more affected by oral cavity cancer as compared to females (n=41; 17.4%). With reference to treatment, 20.4% (n=48) were on radiotherapy, 28.5% (n=67) were on chemotherapy and 9.8% (n=23) were on CCRT, 17.4% (n=41) had surgery, 8.5% (n=20) were recently diagnosed with cancer of the head and neck and 23.4% (n=55) were on follow up. Oral health-related symptoms were experienced to varying degree by the participants. The majority of participants (n=125; 53.2%) did not report any pain and discomfort. More female participants (n=7; 7.4%) in the age group of 41-60 reported of severedifficulty in swallowing liquids than males of the same age group. Most participants (n=148; 63.0%) had difficulty in swallowing solid foods. Similarly, the majority of participants experienced problems with their teeth (n=162; 69.0%), reported xerostomia (n=159; 67.7%). With reference to trismus, a higher proportion of females (n=27; 28.7%) reported severe trismus compared to male participants (n=33; 23.4%). With reference to increased viscosity of saliva, 34.0% (n=32) of females reported extremely sticky saliva as compared to 29.8% males (n=42).