Frequency of Depression and its Correlation with Quality of Life of Patients with Oral Cavity Cancer

INTRODUCTION: the effects of malignant tumors of oral cavity may be reflected through mental, physical, social and emotional well-being and quality of life of patients. Those suffering from malignancies show a large degree of psychological problems (fear, anxiety, depression, panic disorders, phobias) both at the time of diagnosis and during the treatment. AIM: to determine a level of depression in patients with oral cavity cancer and to link quality of life and level of depression of patients with oral cavity cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was conducted at the Clinic of Maxillofacial Surgery of the Clinical Center University of Sarajevo (CCUS) in the period from July to late October 2015, through a survey of patients with verified oral cavity cancer, questionnaire related to socio-demographic characteristics of the patients, the University of Washington Quality of Life Questionnaire (UW-QOL), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). RESULTS: Majority of patients from our study, specifically 50 (56%) of them, did not suffer from depression, 8 (9%) respondents suffered from mild depression, 14 (16%) respondents had moderate depression, whereas 17 (19%) of them had severe depression. CONCLUSION: quality of life and level of depression of patients with oral cavity cancer are in negative and almost linear correlation. The worse the evaluation results of one’s physical or socio-emotional health, the higher degree of depression.