Oral mucositis: clinical aspects and impact on quality of life among patients submitted to hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation

Abstract

Oral mucositis constitutes a painful condition which frequently occurs in patients submitted to hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT). It affects about 80% of the patients, having huge impact on their quality of life. The objective of the study is to verify the mucositis impact on oral health among patients submitted to HSCT. A.C.Camargo Hospital patients will be evaluated along 20 months in 4 different moments: a) 2 days before the HSCT; b) after 5 / 8 days, respectively, to autologous and allogeneic; c) in days 12 / 20; and d) 30 days after patient discharge. It is expected that 80 adults be evaluated in the investigation period. Clinical evaluation will be performed using World Health Organization criteria; oral-health quality of life will be measured using OHIP-14; Oral Mucositis Quality of Life (OMQoL) and PROMS scale will evaluate quality of life with regard oral mucositis symptoms. Salivary analysis will be performed in all the patients. Stimulated and non-stimulated saliva will be collected. After the collection, the saliva will be put in plastic recipients and freezed in dry ice in order to be sent to analysis. In the laboratory, the material will be freezed at -80°C, until the performance of the biochemical analysis; they will include IL-6 (interleucin 6) and TNF-± (alfa tumour necrosis factor) using ELISA. Clinical and laboratory data will be correlated with the quality of life´s scores. STATA 11.0 will be used to perform the statistical analysis (at 5% of level of significance). With the study, it is expected to discuss quality of life improvement among patients that are being treated. (AU)