Value of six comorbidity scales for predicting survival of patients with primary surgery for oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Comorbidities influence treatment outcome of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). This study compared the predictive performance of six comorbidity scales for overall survival after surgery for OSCC.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed OSCC patients, surgically treated at an academic center in Belgium between January 01, 2000 and January 01, 2020. Validity of the scales was evaluated using the area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic curves.
Results: Three hundred and twenty three patients were included. Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (AUC = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.55-0.92; AUC = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.55-0.80), modified Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (AUC = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.54-0.91; AUC = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.51-0.77), and Combined Comorbidity Index (AUC = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.58-0.84; AUC = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.59-0.84) were meaningful predictors for 2 and 5-year survival, respectively.
Conclusion: Selected comorbidity scales were capable of predicting overall survival for OSCC patients 2 and 5 years after primary surgery.
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