Abstract
Few studies and epidemiological surveys are carried out in populations geographically and culturally isolated, such as rural and riverine communities. Riverine populations represent one of the typical populations of the Amazon region. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of dental caries and periodontal disease on the quality of life of adolescents and young adults from an urban area and from two riverine communities of the Amazon region located at different distances from the urban area. The occurrence of dental caries and periodontal disease was examined through the Decayed, Missing, Filled (DMFT) Index and the Community Periodontal Index (CPI). The impact of oral health conditions on quality of life was examined through the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire. The data were collected from 564 individuals (15–25 years old): 212 residents of the urban area of Abaetetuba-Pará-Brazil, were compared to 186 inhabitants of the nearest riverine community (Maracapucu) and 166 of another riverine community (Tucumanduba River) located further from the city. The OHIP-14 was analyzed as a dependent outcome, while dental caries, bleeding, calculus, the presence of periodontal pockets, as well as sex and age were analyzed as independent variables through Poisson analysis in a multilevel model. The worst indicators of OHIP-14 and the highest DMFT scores were found in the riverine populations, especially those from the riverine community farthest from the urban area. Based on the adjusted multivariate model, variables such as the contextual variable (location, RR 1.31), and individual demographic variables (sex and age), DMFT (RR 1.53), and the presence of periodontal pockets (RR 1.15) were significantly related to the OHIP (p<0.001). Our results confirm that dental caries and periodontal disease negatively impact oral health-related quality of life; however, these diseases seem to impact the individuals from remote communities more significantly.
Highlights
Riverine peoples are typical populations of the Amazon region
In a survey conducted with people aged 18 years and older from Australia and England, the impact prevalence of the oral condition on the quality of life was 18.2% (16.2%–20.2%) and 15.9% (14.4%–17.4%), respectively [23]
A study with adults from Southern Brazil recorded an impact prevalence for the worst OHIP score of approximately 16% [24], similar to that found in the study conducted in England
Summary
Riverine peoples are typical populations of the Amazon region. They inhabit the river borders and depend on the river for food, transportation, work, and subsistence [1, 2]. Life is essentially associated with the seasonality of the rivers, and local economy is based on arbitrary fishing and small scale farming. Epidemiological studies in these communities are scarce due to the difficulties of access and logistics, inefficient transportation systems, insufficient work conditions for researchers, demographic dispersion of the population along the rivers, and the absence of socio-demographic records. Different from what can be observed regarding rural/riverine populations, several studies are conducted in urban populations by means of epidemiological data in oral health These studies have proved that high frequency oral diseases- such as dental caries and periodontal disease- influence the quality of life [3,4,5,6]. This relationship is determined by the health condition of adjacent teeth and buccal tissues, which allows the individual to feed and chew without difficulty and to obtain aesthetic satisfaction and absence of pain [7,8,9]
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