Patient experiences with oral mucositis caused by chemo-/radiotherapy: a critical qualitative literature review.

Mucositis is one of the most common side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In
order to develop an evidence-based clinical practice guideline for the management of tumor
therapy-induced-oral mucositis, it was neces- sary to capture the patients’ perspective.
Therefore the aim of this critical literature review was to explore the experience of patients
with therapy-induced-oral mucositis. Searches were carried out using a systematic search
strategy in CINAHL and Medline. Qualitative studies investigating the view of cancer
patients receiving chemotherapy and/or radio- therapy and suffering from oral mucositis were
included. Study selection and quality assess- ment were performed by two independent
reviewers. Only two qualitative studies (n=28 patients) met the inclusion criteria. Oral
mucositis caused by cancer therapy is associat- ed with serious complications concerning pain,
eating, swallowing, speaking, sadness, lack of energy, and distress. Mucositis was described
as the worst side effect of cancer therapy. Providing patient-centered care requires under-
standing the experience and the needs of patients and their families. Mucositis is associ-
ated with complex physical, psychological and social consequences. Unfortunately, both stud-
ies were performed in different cultural back- grounds and health care systems, so the results
cannot simply be transferred to German-speak- ing countries. Further research is needed to
gain a deeper understanding of living with mucositis.