The effect of oral care with propolis on the development of oral mucosites in patients with oncological malignities

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Since propolis is one of the natural agents used in the treatment of oral mucositis, in this study, it was aimed to examine the effect of propolis on the development of oral mucositis in patients diagnosed with oncological cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study was conducted as a randomized controlled experimental study on 38 patients. The carbonated oral care protocol was applied to the patients in the control group, and propolis drops containing 10% pure Anatolian propolis in water soluble in addition to the standard protocol were applied to the intervention group. Data were collected on days 7, 14, and 21 using the Patient Identification Form, the World Health Organization Oral Toxicity Scale Follow-up Form, and the Oral Assessment Guideline Follow-up Form (ADR). The obtained data were evaluated by transferring them to a computer program. While evaluating the data, frequency distribution for categorical variables, descriptive statistics for numerical variables were used. Whether there was a difference between the two groups was evaluated with the independent sample t-test, and whether there was a difference between the two categorical variables was evaluated with the Chi-square test. Analysis of variance was used for repeated measurements to examine changes over time. P<0.05 was accepted for significance. RESULTS: According to the World Health Organization Oral Toxicity Scale, the presence of oral mucositis was found to be lower in the propolis group (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in terms of the degree of oral mucositis (p>0.05). It was determined that the ADR scores of the propolis group were lower in terms of the ADR scores (p<0.05). The risk of oral mucous membrane disruption of ADR was significantly higher in the control group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: It has been determined that Anadolu propolis is an easily applicable product without any side effects for the prevention of oral mucositis in patients receiving chemotherapy with oncological cancer. In order to determine the effect of propolis on oral mucositis and the level of evidence, it is recommended to conduct studies with larger sample groups and meta-analysis studies.