Long-term Swallow Outcomes and Factors Affecting Swallowing Dysfunction and Quality of Life among Oral Cancer Patients: a Prospective Observational Study

Oral cancer is one of the most common cancers among the Indian population. India bears the most burden of oral cancer globally. Impairment of swallowing function is often seen after treatment for oral cancer. The oral phase of swallowing is disrupted in patients undergoing resection for oral cancer. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term swallowing outcomes of oral cancer patients using a patient-reported outcome questionnaire. All consecutive oral cancer patients in the cT2–T4 category undergoing curative-intent surgery and reconstruction at our institute from March 2020 to March 2022 were included in the study. The Sydney Swallow questionnaire (SSQ) and functional oral intake scale (FOIS) assessed swallowing outcomes six months after definitive treatment. WHO BREF quality-of-life questionnaire was used to assess health-related quality of life. A total of seventy patients with oral cancer were included. The median age was 49 years. The majority of them were males (90