Quality of Life in Oral Submucous Fibrosis: A Systematic Review

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic, insidious disease and is said to have a multifactorial origin with varied clinical manifestation of repeated oral ulcers, intolerance to spicy food, mucosal blanching resulting in stiffness of the oral mucosa and formation of taut bands leading to reduced mouth opening. We designed this study to systematically review the literature on QOL in OSMF and hope to make recommendations for future course of QOL assessment in OSMF. An electronic bibliographic search of studies was done from year 1900–2019 using specified keywords. The following databases were searched: PubMed, Ovid, Google Scholar and manual search were done from references of relevant articles. Of the screened 156 articles, finally 10 studies were included after screening for inclusion/exclusion criteria. Quality assessment of studies was completed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) criteria for quantitative studies. Most instruments used in the studies were not disease specific for OSMF except one study. Six types of questionnaires were used. The heterogeneity in study population, study designs, QOL instruments and outcome measures made it difficult for a comparison. Therefore, a quantification analysis was not possible. Also pure OSMF data without the involvement of other lesions were less in number. OSMF not only physically debilitates a patient, it has its repercussions on the social, physical, psychological domains as well. Another aspect is that apart from trismus, which is the most common and evident symptom associated with OSMF, a substantial part of the suffering that ensues is also because of the ulcerations, burning sensation and worsening of dental health. Another focus was the association of worse QOL with a higher grade of disease, longer and higher tobacco abuse contact duration. This review is unable to give a confident answer to the evidence on QOL in OSMF but definitely showers light on the evident lack of robust data on the same. Robust Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporation methodological and adequately powered studies on assessing QOL in OSMF using only a reliable disease specific questionnaire is the need of the hour. PROSPERO Registration: CRD42018102874.