Georgian Med News. 2026 Jun;(375):118-127.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment of tumours of the maxilla and hard palate is often associated with persistent functional and psychosocial impairment, making quality-of-life assessment an important component of rehabilitation evaluation. The objective of the present study was to assess the applicability and psychometric characteristics of an adapted bilingual (Russian-Kazakh) version of the UW-QOL v4.1 questionnaire in patients after surgical treatment of tumours of the maxilla, hard palate, and adjacent anatomical regions, as well as to analyse quality-of-life outcomes depending on the method of functional rehabilitation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study included 104 patients after surgical treatment of maxillary and hard palate tumours. Translation and cultural adaptation were performed using forward translation, expert consensus, and pilot testing. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity were assessed using standard psychometric methods. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0.
RESULTS: The overall Cronbach’s α coefficient for the 14 questionnaire domains was 0.878, indicating high internal consistency. Test-retest reliability demonstrated strong correlations across all domains (r=0.904-0.983; p<0.001). The lowest quality-of-life scores were observed in the “Saliva” (41.3±21.2) and “Taste” (43.6±21.5) domains. Patients with advanced-stage disease and those who underwent multimodal treatment had significantly lower Physical Function and Social-Emotional Function scores compared with patients with early-stage disease and monotherapy (p≤0.001). Patients using obturator prostheses demonstrated significantly higher quality-of-life scores than patients without prosthetic rehabilitation (p<0.001). Financial limitations were the most common reason for refusal of obturator rehabilitation (55.6%).
CONCLUSIONS: The adapted bilingual version of the UW-QOL v4.1 questionnaire used in the present study demonstrated good psychometric properties and may be applied for quality-of-life assessment in patients after surgical treatment of maxillary and hard palate tumours in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The findings also highlight the importance of accessible functional rehabilitation in this patient population.
PMID:42603325
