Guedea, MarcSánchez, MeritxellLozano, AliciaFerrer Forés, Maria MontserratPont Acuña, ÀngelsGuedea, FerránClotet, SandraJuárez, MarcAraguas, PabloVentura Alemany, Montserratd'Oliveira, Nuno GustavoUstrell, Josep Maria2025-04-112025-04-112025Guedea M, Sánchez M, Lozano A, Ferrer M, Pont A, Guedea F, et al. The EORTC QLQ43 and FACT H&N questionnaires of quality of life at 1 and 5 years after treatment and dental care in head and neck cancer patients: a pilot study. Clin Transl Oncol. 2025 Jan;27(1):166-74. DOI: 10.1007/s12094-024-03567-51699-048Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/70130Purpose: This study aimed to examine health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in head and neck cancer patients at 1 and 5 years after successful treatment of their tumors, and to explore the usefulness of 2 instruments for assessing the need of dental care services. Methods: This cross-sectional pilot study included 20 adult patients with head and neck cancer who completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck (FACT H&N) Symptom Index and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Head and Neck Module (EORTC QLQ-H&N43) after 1 and 5 years of treatment. Results: Mean (standard deviation, SD) scores of the FACT H&N Symptom Index were higher (better HRQoL) at 5 years than at 1 year (24.1 [4.4] vs. 21.1 [6.4]; p = 0.236). Only three of the ten items of FACT H&N (swallow, pain in mouth/throat or neck, and solid foods) evaluated oral health. In the EORTC QLQ-H&N43 questionnaire, scores were lower at 5 years (better HRQoL) in almost all multi- and single-item symptoms. This questionnaire includes four multi-item scales (pain in the mouth, social eating, swallowing, and problems with teeth) measuring dental and orthodontic needs. Conclusion: HRQoL in patients with head and neck cancer improved with the length of follow-up. The EORTC QLQ-H&N43 has more items addressing oral health compared to the FACT H&N Symptom Index and may be more adequate to assess the need of dental therapy in clinical practice.application/pdfeng© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12094-024-03567-5Dental careEORTC QLQ-H and N43FACT H and NHead and neck cancerHealth-related quality of lifeRadiotherapyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess