Dados do Trabalho

Título

PATIENTS' PERCEPTION OF ORAL MUCOSITIS

Introdução

Oral mucositis is a frequent side effect in oncohematological patients. Clinically described as oral lesions that may be erythema or ulcers, may lead to diet limitation, pain and secondary infections

Objetivo

Describe and categorize patients' spontaneous self-perception of the impact of oral mucositis on their quality of life to alert health professionals about this side effect.

Método

Ten qualitative interviews were conducted with an average duration of one hour in patients who presented oral mucositis in an oncology hospital. This study was approved by the institution's research ethics committee. The interviews were conducted by a single researcher, trained in qualitative research and were fully transcribed and analyzed by the triangulation technique using the Bardin method.

Resultado

After floating reading of the interviews, the most emphasized and frequent words were coded in the reports, as well as phrases, expressions and comparations. Each word was explored by a guide concept, in order to explore its subjectivity, find synonyms and correlations with the other. Seven classes of complaints were categorized that generate an impact on the quality of life of patients with oral mucositis, the main ones being: symptoms, limitations and physical alterations. Also highlighted were phrases such as: 'it looked like my mouth was in the flesh alive', 'mucositis is the worst part of cancer', 'mucositis is unbearable, you do not eat, do not sleep...', ' I'm afraid to go back to eating, even knowing that it has already been found' and 'after I had mucositis I saw how important it was that I had prevented it, I thought it would be something punctual and not all that'.

Conclusão

Oral mucositis, according to the patients' perception, causes great suffering and limitations, its damage is highly described literature, but encountering accurate and in-depth complaints generate greater empathy and engagement of the whole team in order to prevent mucositis.

Palavras-chave

oral mucositis; quality of life; hospital dentistry