Evaluation of the quality of life after surgical removal of lung cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Morbidity and mortality attributed to lung cancer remain at high levels, especially where men are concerned. The surgery for lung cancer involves removing neoplastic lesions in order to save the largest possible part of the healthy lung. Of importance is also pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation. The aim of this thesis is to gauge the quality of life of the patients who have had their lung cancer surgically removed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 72 patients (52 men and 20 women) after surgical removal of lung cancer. The subjects were examined prior to, a week after and six months following surgery. The investigation employed the standardised questionnaires to assess the quality of life, i.e. EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-LC13, as well as the visual analogue pain scale (VAS). Statistical analyses were performed using the Anova Friedman test and Dunna test, and p-value calculated in multiple comparisons with significance level assumed at p < 0.05. RESULTS: During six months after the operation, the quality of life deteriorated in relation to the one before operation as evidenced by the functioning scale at the level of p < 0.001. Overall symptom scale, as well as symptomatic scale and the VAS scale showed that some symptoms increased significantly in the early period after surgery p < 0.001, then with the passage of time, the patients felt improvement, however, some of them, e.g. pain sensations can persist till six months after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical removal of lung cancer is associated with a significant deterioration of the quality of life in the early period after surgery and can persist till six months later.

Comparison of oral-health-related quality of life in patients in the short- and long-term period following lower-facial injury and fractures - preliminary report.

BACKGROUND: Post-traumatic craniofacial injuries associated with bone fractures lead to serious morphological, functional and aesthetic complications which may negatively affect the physical and mental condition of the patient throughout the recovery period. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was the evaluation of complaints and well-being in patients during the shortand long-term period following injury to the lower face, as well as an assessment of the effects of age and sex in the examined parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The research group included 42 patients with injury to the lower face. The patients' well-being and the most common functional problems following treatment were assessed using Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14). Statistical analyses were performed using the Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, with significance level assumed at p < 0.05. RESULTS: A period of 8 months following injury of the lower face was sufficient for the patients to achieve significant improvement in the quality of life. Improvement in well-being, according to OHIP-14, by approx. 11.9 points ±11.7 points, was highly significant (p < 0.001). The most frequent complaints included pain in the maxillofacial area, difficulties with consumption of food and dissatisfaction due to the necessary change of diet. The factors of age (p = 0.2839) and sex (p = 0.6047) did not significantly affect improvement in well-being. CONCLUSIONS: During both the shortand long-term period following injury of the lower face, the most frequent complaints included pain in the maxillofacial region, problems with eating food and dissatisfaction due to change in diet. The study has shown that during the period of 8 months after the injury, there was a significant improvement in the quality of life assessed with OHIP-14. Age and gender do not significantly affect the quality of life after injury to the lower face.