The Analysis Of Factors Affecting The Quality Of Life Of Tongue Cancer After Primary Surgery

Objective: To Study the quality of life and related factors of survivors of tongue cancer for at least 3 years.Methods: 57 primary tangue cancer patients surviving for over 3 years after surgical treatment in the oral and maxillofacial surgery department of Qingdao Municiple Hospital from July 2005 to July 2013 were selected as test subjects.Their quality of life(QOL)in the 3rd year after surgery were evaluated according to the 4th edition of University of Washington quality of life questionnaire(UW-QOL).12 items(pain,feature,activity ability,entertainment,deglutition,chew,language,function of shoulders,sense of taste,saliva,emotion and anxiety)are involved in the questionnaire,each of which is divided into 3 to 5 levels scored by Likert.The maximum state level or normal function level is designated as 100 points,wheras the minimum state level or the most severe function loss is designated as 0 points.According to their own subjective feelings,These patients independently chose each corresponding leve,and the total score of QOL was obtained by adding each subscore,suggesting that the higher the total score is,the higher the QOL is.Meanwhile,the possible relevant factors affecting QOL were analyzed,including the patient's basic clinical data,the pathological parameters of tongue cancer and the treatment factors.specifically speaking,the items such as gender,age,education level,smoking or not,tumor site,T stage,N stage,way of cervical lymph node dissection,flap repair mode,radiation and chemotherapy were evaluated to identify the affecting factors.Results: According to the evaluating results of the above factors,the QOL score of male is 825.4,and that of female is 854.6,suggesting no statistical difference(P > 0.05).The QOL score of subjects below 40-year old is 815.4,that of subjects between 40 and 60 years old is 832.1,and that of subjects over 60-year old is 826.3,suggesting no statistical difference(P > 0.05).The QOL score of subjects with an education level of primary school and below is 814.7,that of subjects with an education level of middle school is 836.4,and that of subjects with a Bachelor's Degree and above is 806.1,suggesting no statistical difference(P > 0.05).The QOL score of smoker is746.6,andthat of non-smoker is 867.2,suggesting a statistical difference(P <0.05).The QOL score of subjects with the tumor in the tongue is 814.6,and that of subjects with the tumor in the root of tongue is 832.4,suggesting no statistical difference(P > 0.05).The QOL score of subjects with a clinical stage of lymph nodes(N0+N1)is 874.5,and that of subjects with a clinical stage of lymph nodes(N2+N3)is 774.8,suggesting a statistical difference(P <0.05).The QOL score of subjects with a clinical stage of tumor(T1+T2)is 884.2,and that of subjects with a clinical stage of tumor(T3+T4)is 787.6,suggesting a statistical difference(P <0.05).The QOL score of subjects with functional cervical lymph node dissection is 829.4,and that of subjects with radical cervical lymph node dissection is 760.2,suggesting a statistical difference(P <0.05).The QOL score of subjects without flap repair is 814.5,that of subjects with free flap repair is 837.4,and that of subjects with Sternocleidomastoid muscle flap repair is 820.5,suggesting no statistical difference(P > 0.05).The QOL score of subjects with postoperation radiotherapy is 803.5,and that of subjects without postoperation radiotherapy is 843.2,suggesting a statistical difference(P <0.05).The QOL score of subjects with chemotherapy is 813.5,and that of subjects without chemotherapy is 794.6,suggesting no statistical difference(P>0.05).The above results show that gender,age,education level,tumor site,flap repair mode and chemotherapy has no influence on the QOL of postoperative tongue tumor patients(P>0.05),whereas smoking,T-stage,N-stage,way of cervical lymph node dissection,and radiation could have an impact on the QOL of those patients(P<0.05).Conclusion: 1.Factors such as gender,age,education level,tumor site,flap repair mode and chemotherapy have no impact on the QOL of postoperative tongue tumor patients.2.The clinical stages of tumor(T-stage and N-stage)have a relatively greater impact on QOL of postoperative tumor patients.The patients with termal cancer have a greater risk and lower QOL,an early detection and early treatment is in urgent need.3.The treatment mode has an impact on QOL as well.Radical lymph node dissection and radiation dramatically decrease the QOL.Thus various treatment modes should be comprehensively considered by the clinicians.