Oral (mouth) symptoms are very common and often bothersome in patients with cancer. The best way to assess these symptoms is using a patient-rated symptom assessment scale. A new symptom assessment scale for oral symptoms has been developed and already tested in patients. The purpose of this study is to test the scale again to make sure it is reliable and accurate.
Oral health is multifaceted and includes an individual's ability to speak, eat as well as to convey emotion without pain, embarrassment or discomfort. Oral health contributes to an individual's general well-being. Poor oral health in patients with advanced cancer can be associated with negative impacts on an individual's quality of life in terms of psychological and emotional distress (e.g. avoiding social interactions due to embarrassment) and physical distress (e.g. pain associated with mucositis). As well as this certain problems can be associated indirectly with mortality in patients with advanced cancer e.g. oral infection leading to systemic infection. In patients with advanced cancer oral symptoms are common, often multiple and of high-impact. Routine screening for oral symptoms should be undertaken in all patients with advanced cancer in conjunction with regular examination of the oral cavity to ensure correct diagnosis and adequate treatment. A novel oral symptom assessment scale (OSAS) was designed and developed to measure the frequency, severity and distress (or bother) of twenty oral symptoms in patients with advanced cancer. This initial observational study provided provisional validation of the new assessment tool. This study aims to further investigate the reliability and validity of this novel oral symptom assessment tool in patients with advanced cancer. Test-retesting will occur in patients deemed clinically stable. Test- retesting will be undertaken to measure reliability on two occasions 24-48 hours apart. Recruited patients will be asked to fill in the OSAS as well as the EORTC QLQ- C30 and EORTC QLQ-OH15 (a validated quality of life assessment with an oral health module) which will provide criterion (concurrent) validity.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
54
Our Lady's Hospice and Care Services
Dublin, Ireland
To measure the reliability of the oral symptom assessment scale (i.e assess if any change)
The oral symptom assessment scale is a twenty-question patient-reported symptom assessment scale. Participants are asked to rate how often ( rarely, occasionally, frequently, almost constantly), the severity (slight, moderate, severe, very severe) and distress or bother ( not at all, a little bit, somewhat, quite a bit, very much) of any of these twenty oral symptoms during the past week.
Time frame: Measured at Time 1 ( Time 1 = 0 hours ) and Time 2 (Time = 24 hours later)
To measure the concurrent validity of the OSAS against the EORTC QLQ-OH15
The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life of cancer patients questionnaire is a patient-reported outcomes evaluation of quality of life in cancer patients and the European Organisation of Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Oral Health questionnaire is an oral health quality of life module. The former consists of thirty questions assessing five functions, nine symptoms and global health status/quality of life. The EORTC QLQ OH-15 module consists of one multi-item scale to assess oral health quality of life and five single items to assess sore mouth, sticky saliva, sensitivity, dentures and information.All of the scales and single-item measures range in score from 0 to 100.A high score for the functional scale and single item represents a high level of functioning, this is, a low level of symptomatology or problems. A high score for the symptom items represents a high level of symptomatology or problems.
Time frame: Measured at Time 1 ( Time = 0 hours)
To measure ease of use
Participants will be asked to fill in an ease of use questionnaire at Time point 1. The two questions will be yes or no answers ( 1. Did you think the OSAS was easy to complete? 2. Did you think the EORTC QLQ C30 and EORTC QLQ OH15 was easy to complete?)
Time frame: Measured at Time 1 ( Time = 0 hours)
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