ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2020
Palliative care assessment of dry mouth: what matters most to patients with advanced disease?
Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dry mouth in palliative care: A systematic review of clinical practice guidelines around the world.Palliative medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence of oral diseases in patients under palliative care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of alpha-lipoic acid on salivary secretion in patients undergoing head and neck radiotherapy: a randomized clinical trial.BMC cancer · 2026Trial
- Characteristics of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase as psychobiological study outcomes in palliative care research.BMC palliative care · 2022Trial
- Assessment of Dry Mouth in a Palliative Population: A Comparison Between Patient-Reported Symptoms and Clinical Oral Dryness Scale Measurements.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2026Article
- The Integrated Palliative Outcome Scale (IPOS): A tool for assessing needs and shaping individualized care plans in hospice settings.Palliative & supportive care · 2026Article
- Comparative analysis of salivary cytokine profiles in newly diagnosed pediatric patients with cancer and healthy children.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Xerostomia: a silent burden for people receiving palliative care - a qualitative descriptive study.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- Transdermal pilocarpine on the skin over salivary glands to increase salivation: an in vivo study.BMC oral health · 2024Article
- Article
- Dry mouth in patients with a life-limiting condition or frailty: a study protocol for two intervention studies and a nested qualitative sub-study (the Dry mOuth Project, DROP).BMC palliative care · 2023Article
- A Review of the Role of Natural Products as Treatment Approaches for Xerostomia.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- A Review on the Role of Pilocarpine on the Management of Xerostomia and the Importance of the Topical Administration Systems Development.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- A Possible Novel Protective Effect of Piceatannol against Isoproterenol (ISO)-Induced Histopathological, Histochemical, and Immunohistochemical Changes in Male Wistar Rats.Current issues in molecular biology · 2022Article
- A Narrative of Oral Care in Palliative Patients.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The association between oral dryness and use of dry-mouth interventions in Sjögren's syndrome patients.Clinical oral investigations · 2022Article
- Salivary inflammatory mediators as biomarkers for oral mucositis and oral mucosal dryness in cancer patients: A pilot study.PloS one · 2022Article
- Taste alterations and oral discomfort in patients receiving chemotherapy.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Article
- Oral dryness and moisture degree at the lingual but not buccal mucosa predict prognosis in end-of-life cancer patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Article
- Diagnostic accuracy of patient-reported dry mouth as a predictor for oral dryness in terminally ill cancer patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeDry mouth is a highly prevalent and significant symptom in patients with advanced progressive diseases. It is a poorly understood area of research, and currently, there is no standardised outcome measure or assessment tool for dry mouth.
methodsTo assess responses to self-reported dry mouth questions, the impact of dry mouth, methods used to reduce symptoms and relevance of the questionnaire. A cross-sectional multisite study of 135 patients with advanced progressive disease experiencing dry mouth. Participants were located in the inpatient, day care, outpatient or community setting.
resultsThe majority (84.4%) of patients rated their dry mouth as moderate or severe using the verbal rating scale (VRS). Seventy-five percent (74.7%) had a numeric rating scale (NRS) score of 6 or more for dry mouth severity. Patients reported that dry mouth interfered most with talking and was the most important function to assess (median score 6 out of 10) followed by eating (median 5) and taste (median 5). Taking sips of drink was the most common and most effective self-management strategy. Over half of patients (54.6%) also reported impact on swallow and sleep and associated dryness of lips, throat and nasal passages.
conclusionsThis study highlights the severity of dry mouth in advanced disease. Important factors when assessing patients with dry mouth should include the functional impact on day-to-day activities including talking, dysphagia and sleep. Simple considerations for patients include provision of drinks and reviewing medications. This study could be used to develop a standardised assessment tool for dry mouth to use in clinical practice.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.