Globally cancers account for 5.1 % of total disease burden and 12.5% of all deaths. Oral cancer is a major problem in the Indian subcontinent where it ranks among the top three types of cancer in the country.The north east region especially Assam and Meghalaya is turning to be the stock house of oral cancer due to many reasons like the tradition of chewing betel nut and addiction to other sources of tobacco. An increasingly important issue in oncology is to evaluate the quality of life in cancer patients. Objectives of the study: To assess the Quality of Life among patients with oral cancer and to find out the association between Quality of Life with selected demographic variables. Materials and Methods: The research design adopted for the study was descriptive survey design.The study was conducted at Dr. B. Baroooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the samples. Sixty samples were selected for the study. After obtaining the signature in the consent form, data was collected by using structured interview schedule to know about demographic variables and UW-QOLversion 4 was used to measure QOL. Results: The findings of the study showed majority (38.30%) of patients were under the age group of 50-61 years, most of the patients (88.30%) had the habit ofchewing betelnut and the most common site of oral cancer was buccal mucosa accounting for 38%.QOL of physical function was found to be worst at 55.6% as compared to socio-emotional function of 70.6%.This study reveals a significant association between saliva with personal habits 160.24 and treatment received 72.79 tested at p ≤0.05by chi-square test. Conclusion:The study findings concluded that the majority of the patients were under the age group of 50-61 years had the habit of chewing betel nut, the most common site of oral cancer was buccal mucosa, andQOL of Physical function was found to be worst as compared to Socio-emotional function. Present study also proves that the worst QOL that is saliva is statically significant with personal habits and treatment received.
