Abstract
Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is utilized in health services research to examine trends in oral health and population-based needs assessment. To determine the impact of oral diseases on everyday life, measures of oral quality of life are needed. In addition to common disease-based measures, they assess the need for oral care to evaluate oral health care programs and treatment management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the OHRQoL among Croatian university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 895 students (mean age 22 ± 4 years; 54.75% were females). The data collection was carried out through a self-administered short-form oral health impact profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire which comprises 14 items that describe 7 subscales. Each subscale is named according to its constitutive items: functional limitation, physical pain, psychological discomfort, physical disability, psychological disability, social disability and social handicap. The quality of data was descriptively analysed and internal consistency reliability was assessed by Chronbach’s alpha coefficient. Pearson’s correlation was performed on the OHIP-14 total score and 7 subscale scores. The level of significance was set to p < 0.05. The prevalence of reported impact on OHRQoL was 31.84% and the mean OHIP-14 score was 11.66 ± 8.72. Chronbach’s alpha for the OHIP-14 total score was 0.91 (range for subscales: 0.70–0.87). Total OHIP-14 score was correlated with each of the seven subscales (correlation range: 0.56–0.84). The psychological discomfort and physical pain subscales recorded the highest impact with 56.09% and 24.47%, respectively, while the least impact was recorded in the physical disability subscale with 13.35%. The mean OHIP-14 score of the students in this study reflects that the oral health status of most of the students did not significantly affect their OHRQoL. However, the psychological discomfort and physical pain subscales were the most severely affected aspects of their OHRQoL. The OHIP-14 had reasonable reliability in relation to subjective global oral health indicators among students and thus appears to be a useful OHRQoL measure in this context.
Highlights
Quality of life (QoL) has been the focus of many researchers for many years as one of the topics important in the life of every human being
The mean OHIP-14 score of the students in this study reflects that the oral health status of most of the students did not significantly affect their oral healthrelated quality of life (OHRQoL)
Since the mean value of OHIP-14 less than 14 indicates no impact on the oral health status of students [48], from the above it can be concluded that the impact of oral health status on daily life activities among students was of low intensity
Summary
Quality of life (QoL) has been the focus of many researchers for many years as one of the topics important in the life of every human being. Definitions and measurements of QoL have varied and changed greatly [1]. QoL has become a subject of interest in psychology, philosophy, sociology, clinical medicine and dentistry, and in the health care system [2]. There are numerous studies of QoL and certain aspects that constitute this quality. From the aspect of dentistry, the concept of oral healthrelated quality of life (OHRQoL) is important. This concept has developed only in the last few decades, and it has not received much attention before [3]. QoL means personal satisfaction or dissatisfaction within the cultural or intellectual living conditions
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