Impact of Oral Health Programmes on the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among Children: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Over the last two decades, health professionals and researchers have become increasingly interested in understanding the sociodental approach to improving oral care quality, which focuses more on individuals’ subjective well-being and is guided by Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) measures. Objectives: (1) To critically review published literature on the impact of oral health programmes upon OHRQoL among children and (2) to provide an evidence-based approach on research regarding the impact of oral health programmes upon OHRQoL. Methodology: This systematic review is being conducted as per the Joanna Briggs Institute Guidelines and reported as per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. An initial literature yielded 359 abstracts/manuscripts which were tested for eligibility. A total of 10 full length articles satisfying inclusion/exclusion criteria were retrieved and were included for qualitative synthesis. Studies were categorized as interventional (7) and observational (3). Four independent reviewers critically assessed the included studies based on CONSORT and STROBE guidelines, respectively. Risk of bias was assessed using ROBINS-I tool for nonrandomized clinical trial, RoB 2.0 tool for randomized clinical trial. Preventive fraction and levels of evidence were calculated for all the studies using the available data. Results: A total of 10 studies published over a period of 15 years were considered for qualitative synthesis. Analysis revealed that different types of oral health programmes (curative programs – 5 studies, curative and preventive programs – 4 studies and comprehensive programs – 1 study) were conducted over a duration of 2 weeks to 3 years. The age group of the subjects in various studies ranged from 4 to 14 years. Most of the studies were reported from Brazil (5) (55%). The outcome measures in all the studies were OHRQoL and the tools that were used to measure it were Child Perception Questionnaire (6 studies), Child Oral Impact on Daily Performance (3 studies), and Early childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (1 studies). A wide range of preventive fraction was obtained ranging from 8% to 90%. The risk of bias assessment for nonrandomized studies mostly showed moderate bias, whereas risk of bias assessment for randomized studies showed low bias. Conclusion: The results of this systematic review revealed that oral health programs does have a positive impact on OHRQoL among children.