Quality of life and oral potentially malignant disorders: Critical appraisal and prospects

Abstract

Quality of life (QoL) is a vital and often required health outcome measure that is relevant to patient care. A healthy oral cavity enables person to perform daily activities without any limitations. However, any disturbance may result in impaired QoL. The oral health-remains an essential element of people’s health and well-being. In recent years, the tradition of clinical practice and research has been changed by incorporating QoL assessment, as it helps in assessment of patients’ needs and monitoring treatment responses. Oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) are a group of chronic disorders including oral leukoplakia (OL), oral lichen planus and oral submucous fibrosis (OSF). It is evident that patients with OPMDs experience significant health-related symptoms, functional limitations and psycho-social impairment, compromising their QoL. Moreover, the worsening of QoL has been associated with advanced stages of OPMDs. Despite of increasing number of OPMD cases in recent decades, limited literature is available regarding QoL in this population. Although, there is higher prevalence of habit-related OPMDs, particularly OSF and OL in Southern Asian countries, only a few studies have been performed in these populations. Moreover, these studies administered generic QoL instruments, which offer less sensitivity to clinical changes. However, condition-specific instruments are more sensitive and allows better measurement of QoL. As the impacts of different conditions on OHRQoL may vary, the development and validation of a QoL instrument specific to each clinical entity of OPMDs is currently needed.

Keywords: Quality of life; Oral potentially malignant disorders; Oral submucous fibrosis; Oral lichen planus; Oral leukoplakia

Core tip: The quality of life (QoL) assessment has become an essential tool in clinical practice to better understand patient reported outcomes in recent years. It definitely helps to better understand the impact of oral health on the lives of patients with oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) and their families and to monitor the outcomes of treatments. It is a foremost pre-requisite to employ the best available QoL instrument when treating OPMDs. In view of the scarcity of research on QoL assessments in OPMDs, the development and application of condition-specific QoL instruments can allow them to become tools to better understand and shape the state of clinical practice, dental research and dental education.