Abstract:Objective To investigate the characteristics and risk factors of oral infection caused by radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.Methods The clinical data of 636 patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy in Xingtai People's Hospital from January 2017 to January 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The incidence of the oral infection and the distribution of pathogens were identified. In addition, the risk factors of oral infection in these patients were screened out from the aspects of gender, age, education level, occupation, tumor stage, tumor site, oral environment, oral hygiene habits, chemotherapy, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, length of hospital stay, and use of antibiotics and oral mucosal protectants.Results Oral infection occurred in 124 patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, with the incidence of oral infection being 19.50%. Fungal infection was the most common, accounting for 39.01% (71 cases) of all the cases. There were differences in age, educational level, tumor stage, oral environment, oral hygiene habit, chemotherapy, diabetes mellitus and the use of antibiotics between those with and without oral infection (P < 0.05). On the contrary, patients with oral infection and those without oral infection were not different in the gender, tumor site, hypertension, or the use of oral mucosal protectants. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed that advanced age [O^R = 2.517 (95% CI: 1.362, 4.364)], higher tumor stage [O^R = 2.953 (95% CI: 1.473, 6.201)], unhealthy oral environment [O^R = 2.805 (95% CI: 1.339, 5.955)], poor oral hygiene habits [O^R = 2.979 (95% CI: 1.817, 7.509)], chemotherapy [O^R = 3.164 (95% CI: 2.072, 9.116)], diabetes mellitus [O^R = 4.102 (95% CI: 2.239, 10.254)] and the use of antibiotics [O^R = 2.331 (95% CI: 1.261, 3.889)] were risk factors of oral infection in patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer (P < 0.05).Conclusions Head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy are prone to oral fungal infection. An advanced age, a higher tumor stage, the unhealthy oral environment, poor oral hygiene habits, chemotherapy, diabetes mellitus, and the use of antibiotics are risk factors for oral infections in patients receiving radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.