Measure Of Oral Health-related Quality Research Articles

Testing the Arabic short form versions of the Parental-Caregivers Perceptions Questionnaire and the Family Impact Scale in Oman.

Short form versions of the Parental-Caregivers Perception Questionnaire (P-CPQ) and Family Impact Scale (FIS) have been developed for use as measures of oral health-related quality of life in dental research.Objectives(1) To translate the original English short form versions of the P-CPQ and FIS and examine their validity, and (2) to describe the impact of early childhood caries on oral health-related quality of life in young Omani children and their families.MethodsParents/caregivers of children awaiting treatment for early childhood caries completed the P-CPQ and FIS at the Military Dental Center in Oman. Data were obtained from 191 families (representing a 94.1% participation rate). A global Oral Health Quality of Life (OHRQoL) item was used concurrently to examine the scales’ validity.ResultsThe cross-sectional concurrent validity of the short form version of the P-CPQ was apparent in the significant gradient across the response categories of the global OHRQoL item, but the FIS short form version did not perform as well.ConclusionThe P-CPQ appears to be valid, but further investigation of the FIS is required, along with examination of the scales’ responsiveness to change.

The impact of dental caries on children and young people: what they have to say?

Dental caries affects 60-90% of children across the world and is associated with a variety of negative impacts. Despite its ubiquity, there has been surprisingly little exploration of these impacts from the child's perspective. The aim was to allow children to describe the impact of dental caries on their daily lives and to describe the terminology they used. Children, aged 5-15 years, with caries experience were purposively sampled from primary and secondary care dental clinics. Focus groups (n = 5) and in-depth interviews (n = 16) were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis took a narrative approach, and themes were derived from the data using framework analysis. Pain was the main theme to emerge. Within this, three subthemes were identified: impacts related to pain, strategies adopted to reduce pain, and emotional aspects resulting from pain. A second theme was also identified relating to the aesthetic aspects of caries. Children as young as 5 years of age were able to competently discuss their experiences of dental caries. Participants reported a number of impacts affecting various aspects of their lives. These will be incorporated into the future development of a caries-specific measure of oral health-related quality of life.

Young adults' views on the relevance of three measures for oral health-related quality of life.

The aim of this study was to explore the views of young adults on the relevance of three measures of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Sixteen young adults aged 21-29 years were interviewed. The selection was strategic with reference to age (21-25 years.; 26-30 years), sex and education (university degree; upper secondary school). The interview guide covered areas on the content and construction of the measures: The Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP), the Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (OIDP) and the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life UK (OHRQoL-UK). The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. A theme expressing the latent content was formulated during the data analysis: 'young adults' own experiences were reflected in their views on the OHRQoL measures'; that is, the experiences of young adults of own oral problems and aspects that were found to be especially important for their age group influenced their view on the measures. The self-reported ability to understand and answer the questions varied and the perceived advantages and disadvantages were almost equally distributed among the three measures. The OHIP, OIDP and OHRQoL-UK were evaluated as being equal by the young adults in this study, with regard both to their pros and cons. The clarity of the measures was regarded as the most important factor, while the length and assessment period were less significant.

Assessment of the quality of measures of child oral health-related quality of life.

BackgroundSeveral measures of oral health-related quality of life have been developed for children. The most frequently used are the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ), the Child Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (C-OIDP) and the Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP). The aim of this study was to assess the methodological quality of the development and testing of these three measures.MethodsA systematic search strategy was used to identify eligible studies published up to December 2012, using both MEDLINE and Web of Science. Titles and abstracts were read independently by two investigators and full papers retrieved where the inclusion criteria were met. Data were extracted by two teams of two investigators using a piloted protocol. The data were used to describe the development of the measures and their use against existing criteria. The methodological quality and measurement properties of the measures were assessed using standards proposed by the Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) group.ResultsThe search strategy yielded 653 papers, of which 417 were duplicates. Following analysis of the abstracts, 119 papers met the inclusion criteria. The majority of papers reported cross-sectional studies (n = 117) with three of longitudinal design. Fifteen studies which had used the original version of the measures in their original language were included in the COSMIN analysis. The most frequently used measure was the CPQ. Reliability and construct validity appear to be adequate for all three measures. Children were not fully involved in item generation which may compromise their content validity. Internal consistency was measured using classic test theory with no evidence of modern psychometric techniques being used to test unidimensionality of the measures included in the COSMIN analysis.ConclusionThe three measures evaluated appear to be able to discriminate between groups. CPQ has been most widely tested and several versions are available. COHIP employed a rigorous development strategy but has been tested in fewer populations. C-OIDP is shorter and has been used successfully in epidemiological studies. Further testing using modern psychometric techniques such as item response theory is recommended. Future developments should also focus on the development of measures which can evaluate longitudinal change.

Translation and validation of Hindi version of Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index

The aim of the study was to translate and validate the oral health-related quality of life assessment tool named Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) into Hindi language for use in the Indian population. The 12-item GOHAI questionnaire was translated into Hindi, back-translated and compared with the original English version. After pilot testing and appropriate changes, the Hindi version was administered to a group of 500 patients visiting the geriatric medicine clinic in All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. The questionnaire was re-administered to 29 participants after a gap of minimum 7days. The measures for reliability and validity were also assessed. Cronbach's α score (0.79) showed excellent internal consistency. Item-scale correlations varied from 0.06 to 0.75. Test-retest correlation on the 29 patients showed excellent results (ranging from 0.748 to 0.946). Lower GOHAI scores were associated with patient's self-perception of nutritional status, perceptive need for prosthesis, number of posterior occluding pair of teeth. Higher GOHAI scores were seen with patients with removable prosthesis than with edentulous or partially edentulous participants. Age group was also found to be a significant factor for GOHAI scores. The Hindi version of GOHAI exhibits acceptable validity and reliability and can be used in the elderly Indian population as a measure of oral health-related quality of life.

Do we need more than one Child Perceptions Questionnaire for children and adolescents?

BackgroundIn dentistry, measures of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) provide essential information for assessing treatment needs, making clinical decisions and evaluating interventions, services and programmes. The two most common measures used to examine child OHRQoL today are the Child Perceptions Questionnaire at two ages, 8–10 and 11–14 (CPQ8-10, CPQ11-14). The reliability and validity of these two versions have been demonstrated together with that (more recently) of the short-form 16-item impact version of the CPQ11-14. This study set out to examine the reliability and validity of the Child Oral Health Quality of Life Questionnaires (COHQOL) instruments the CPQ8-10 and impact short-form CPQ11-14 in 5-to-8-year-old New Zealand children, and to determine whether a single measure for children aged 5–14 is feasible.MethodA cross-sectional survey was conducted of 5-to-8-year-old children attending for dental treatment in community clinics in 2011. Children were examined for dental caries, with OHRQoL measured using the CPQ8-10 and short-form CPQ11-14. Construct validity was evaluated by comparing mean scale scores across ordinal categories of caries experience; correlational construct validity was assessed by comparing mean CPQ scores across children’s global ratings of oral health and well-being.ResultsThe 183 children (49.7% female) aged 5 to 8 years who took part in the study represent a 98.4% participation rate. The overall mean dmft was 6.0 (SD, 2.0 range 1 to 13). Both questionnaire versions detected differences in the impact of dental caries on quality of life, with the greatest scores in the expected direction. Both versions showed higher scores among those with poorer oral health. There was a very strong and positive correlation between CPQ11-14 scores and CPQ8-10 scores (Pearsons’s r = 0.98; P < 0.01).ConclusionThe performance of both versions of the COHQOL measures (CPQ8-10 and short-form CPQ11-14) appears to be acceptable in this younger age group, and this work represents the first stage in validating this questionnaire in a younger age group. It also further confirms that younger children are capable of providing their own perceptions of oral health impacts. The acceptability of the short-from CPQ11-14 in this younger age group lends support to its use in children between ages 5 and 14.

Non‐surgical therapy for the management of peri‐implantitis: a systematic review

Peri-implantitis is characterized by mucosal inflammation and loss of supporting peri-implant bone. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of non-surgical treatment of peri-implantitis. MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science were searched to identify randomized clinical trial studies that assessed non-surgical treatment of peri-implantitis with a minimum follow-up period of 3 months. From a total of 29 abstracts, nine trials were included in this systematic review. Adjunctive local delivery of antibiotics, submucosal glycine powder air polishing, or Er:YAG laser treatment resulted in greater reduction in bleeding on probing compared with submucosal debridement using curettes with adjunctive irrigation with chlorhexidine. In addition, greater reductions in probing depths were found following adjunctive local delivery of antibiotics. The evidence neither supported nor refuted the clinical efficacy of submucosal debridement using curettes or ultrasonic scalers alone. No progressive bone loss was found following any of the assessed treatments over a maximum observation period of 12 months. Only two studies reported implant survival rates, which were 100% over 6 months. The available evidence suggested that submucosal debridement with adjunctive local delivery of antibiotics, submucosal glycine powder air polishing, or Er:YAG laser treatment may reduce clinical signs of peri-implant mucosal inflammation to a greater extent relative to submucosal debridement using curettes with adjunctive irrigation with chlorhexidine. Long-term randomized controlled trials are needed to assess the efficacy of non-surgical therapy on progressing bone loss, implant survival rates, and measures of oral health-related quality of life.

Development and validation of a measure of pediatric oral health-related quality of life: the POQL

To develop a brief measure of oral health-related quality of life (OHQL) in children and demonstrate its reliability and validity in a diverse population. We administered the initial 20-item Pediatric Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (POQL) to children (Child Self-Report) and parents (Parent Report on Child) from diverse populations in both school-based and clinic-based settings. Clinical oral health status was measured on a subset of children. We used factor analysis to determine the underlying scales and then reduced the measure to 10 items based on several considerations. Multitrait analysis on the resulting 10-item POQL was used to reaffirm the discrimination of scales and assess the measure's internal consistency and interscale correlations. We established discriminant and convergent validity with clinical status, perceived oral health and responses on the PedsQL, and determined sensitivity to change with children undergoing ECC surgical repair. Factor analysis returned a four-scale solution for the initial items--Physical Functioning, Role Functioning, Social Functioning, and Emotional Functioning. The reduced items represented the same four scales--two each on Physical and Role and three each on Social and Emotional. Good reliability and validity were shown for the POQL as a whole and for each of the scales. The POQL is a valid and reliable measure of OHQL for use in preschool and school-aged children, with high utility for both clinical assessments and large-scale population studies.

The German version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ-G11-14): translation process, reliability, and validity in the general population

The aims of this study were to develop a German version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ11-14, a measure of oral health-related quality of life in 11-14-year-old children) and to assess the instrument's reliability and validity in German children ages 11-14. The English original version of the CPQ11-14 questionnaire was translated into German (CPQ-G11-14) by a forward-backward translation method. Reliability was investigated in 1,061 subjects aged 11-14 years from a regional sample (Wernigerode, Saxonia-Anhalt, Germany) who were recruited during the annual dental public health examination. The subjects completed the CPQ-G11-14 and were clinically examined for the presence of dental caries, plaque accumulation, and malocclusion. In the reliability assessment, questionnaire summary score test-retest reliability was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.83, 0.73-0.94) and internal consistency was satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha, lower limit of CI = 0.87, 0.86). Validity of the CPQ-G11-14 questionnaire was supported by correlations with global ratings of oral health and overall well-being that were moderate in magnitude and met expectations (r = 0.35; 95% CI, 0.30-0.40 and r = 0.30; 95% CI, 0.24-0.35, respectively). In conclusion, the German version of the CPQ11-14 was reliable and valid in a general population of 11-14-year-old German children.

Dental Tooth Surface Loss and Quality of Life in University Students

To determine the relationship between toothwear into dentine and oral health-related quality of life impacts in a sample of university students not attending for dental treatment. A cross-sectional survey of 1010 university students was undertaken. Clinical examination, including the Smith & Knight (1984) index of tooth erosion, was performed and completion of the Oral Health Impact Profile-49 (OHIP-49) measure of oral health-related quality of life was arranged. Seventy-seven per cent of the students had at least one tooth with tooth surface loss into dentine. Overall OHIP scores were similar for individuals with different levels of severity of tooth surface loss. Individuals with severe tooth surface loss were more likely to report that their appearance had been affected by, and that they had felt self-conscious because of, the condition of their mouth and teeth. Tooth surface loss into dentine was prevalent among the young adults who were examined in this study. They reported that it had little impact on oral health-related quality of life at the non-clinical levels seen in this study.

Construction and validation of the quality of life measure for dentine hypersensitivity (DHEQ)

To develop and validate a condition specific measure of oral health-related quality of life for dentine hypersensitivity (Dentine Hypersensitivity Experience Questionnaire, DHEQ). Questionnaire construction used a multi-staged impact approach and an explicit theoretical model. Qualitative and quantitative development and validation included in-depth interviews, focus groups and cross-sectional questionnaire studies in a general population (n=160) and a clinical sample (n=108). An optimized DHEQ questionnaire containing 48 items has been developed to describe the pain, a scale to capture subjective impacts of dentine hypersensitivity, a global oral health rating and a scale to record effects on life overall. The impact scale had high values for internal reliability (nearly all item-total correlations >0.4 and Cronbach's α=0.86). Intra-class correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was 0.92. The impact scale was strongly correlated to global oral health ratings and effects on life overall. These results were similar when DHEQ was validated in a clinical sample. DHEQ shows good psychometric properties in both a general population and clinical sample. Its use can further our understanding of the subjective impacts of dentine sensitivity.

Use of Patient Self‐Report Oral Health Outcome Measures in Assessment of Dental Treatment Outcomes

To assess the sensitivity of a newly developed brief measure of oral health-related quality of life (OQOL). Self-assessed oral health and OQOL were measured in three groups of patients who had presented for either prophylaxis (n = 32), endodontic care (n = 15), or for a denture (n = 16) in a dental school setting before and after treatment. Main outcome measures included the single-item self-report of oral health (OH-1) and the 6- and 12-item versions of a new OQOL instrument. General linear modeling was used to compute means of self-reported oral health by treatment group. Of the 63 patients who completed the baseline questionnaire, 44 (70 percent) returned questionnaires after treatment. The sample averaged 43 +/- 15 years, 48 percent male and 55 percent with some college education. Ethnic representation included 35 percent White, 33 percent Black, and 32 percent other - mostly Latino. The mean self-reported number of teeth was 20.6. In terms of sensitivity, significant differences were observed between the treatment groups on the items assessing being upset (P < 0.05), feeling depressed (P < 0.05), and uncomfortable about the appearance of teeth or dentures (P < 0.05). However, magnitude of change, as measured by an effect size, was characterized as minimal to small in the recall and endodontic groups and borderline moderate in the denture group. The measure was sensitive to differences within groups, with a small to borderline magnitude of change.

Child-OIDP index in Brazil: Cross-cultural adaptation and validation

BackgroundOral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) measures are being increasingly used to introduce dimensions excluded by normative measures. Consequently, there is a need for an index which evaluates children's OHRQoL validated for Brazilian population, useful for oral health needs assessments and for the evaluation of oral health programs, services and technologies. The aim of this study was to do a cross-cultural adaptation of the Child Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (Child-OIDP) index, and assess its reliability and validity for application among Brazilian children between the ages of eleven and fourteen.MethodsFor cross-cultural adaptation, a translation/back-translation method integrated with expert panel reviews was applied. A total of 342 students from four public schools took part of the study.ResultsOverall, 80.7% of the sample reported at least one oral impact in the last three months. Cronbach's alpha was 0.63, the weighted kappa 0.76, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.79. The index had a significant association with self-reported health measurements (self-rated oral health, satisfaction with oral health, perceived dental treatment needs, self-rated general health; all p < 0.01).ConclusionIt was concluded that the Child-OIDP index is a measure of oral health-related quality of life that can be applied to Brazilian children.

What do measures of ‘oral health‐related quality of life’ measure?

The terms 'health-related quality of life' and 'quality of life' are now in common use to describe the outcomes of oral health conditions and therapy for those conditions. In addition, there has been a proliferation of measures designed to quantify those outcomes. These measures, which were initially designated as socio-dental indicators or subjective oral health indicators are now more usually referred to as measures of oral health-related quality of life (OH-QoL). This is based on the assumption that the functional and psychosocial impacts they document must, of necessity, affect the quality of life. While this assumption has been subject to critical scrutiny in medicine, this is not the case with dentistry. Consequently, exactly what is being measured by indexes of OH-QoL is somewhat unclear. Based on the debate between Gill and Feinstein and Guyatt and Cook, we outline a number of criteria by means of which the construct addressed by measures of OH-QoL may be assessed. These are concerned with how the measures were developed and validated. These criteria are then used to appraise five of the many measures that have been developed over the past 20 years--the GOHAI, OHIP, OIDP, COHQoL and OH-QoL. The main conclusion is that while all document the frequency of the functional and psychosocial impacts that emanate from oral disorders they do not unequivocally establish the meaning and significance of those impacts. Consequently, the claim that oral disorders affect the quality of life has yet to be clearly demonstrated. Verifying this claim requires further qualitative studies of the outcomes of oral disorders as perceived by patients and persons, and the concurrent use of measures that more explicitly address the issue of quality of life.

A German version of the GOHAI

Translation, reliability analysis and validation of a German version of the Geriatric/General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) was the aim of this study. Translation was performed by a forward-backward process. Validity was assessed as convergent validity in comparison with another self-perceived assessment of oral health (OHIP-14) and as group validity (n = 218; mean age 73 years). Reliability was proved in terms of internal consistency, inter-item and item-scale correlations, and stability (test-retest procedure; n = 36; mean age 77 years). The responsiveness to change in oral health status was assessed by pre- and post-treatment comparison (n = 21; mean age 63 years). A German version of the GOHAI is presented. Convergent validity was sufficient (r = -0.76 compared with OHIP-14); group validity could be demonstrated for self-perceived need for treatment, chewing problems, number of own teeth, caries lesions present and dental status. The internal consistency was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92) as were inter-item and item-scale correlations, for which good homogeneity of the index was apparent. The test-retest correlation for the summary score was r = 0.84, single item correlations ranged from r = 0.36 to r = 0.89. The GOHAI sum score increased significantly after patients received new dentures, indicating responsiveness of the GOHAI to clinical change in the expected direction. The German version of the GOHAI had sufficient reliability, validity and responsiveness to be used as measure of oral health-related quality of life in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of the elderly.

Utility of two oral health‐related quality‐of‐life measures in patients with xerostomia

The study compared the validity of the short form of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) and Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) as measures of oral health-related quality of life in patients with xerostomia in the UK. A cross-sectional comparison of OHIP14 and OIDP with measures of clinical indicators, xerostomia symptom status, speech function, global oral health ratings and psychological well-being, in 85 patients attending outpatient clinics. Both OHIP14 and OIDP had excellent internal reliability, and good criterion and construct validity when used in this population of xerostomia patients. In regression analyses, salivary gland condition and xerostomia symptom status significantly predicted oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), accounting for 29% and 14% of the variance in OHIP and OIDP scores respectively. In turn, OHRQoL predicted global ratings of oral health (26% of variance) and psychological well-being (depression) scores (15%). Sex, ethnicity and age were associated with clinical presentation and patient-reported symptoms. Clinical presentation, OHRQoL (as measured by the OIDP) and speech function were related to duration of symptoms. Both OHIP14 and OIDP have good psychometric properties and appear useful measures of OHRQoL in xerostomia. Overall, the OHIP14 performed better than did OIDP. For both measures, the additive scoring method may be more relevant for this population that the number of impacts.

Assessing oral health‐related quality of life in general dental practice in Scotland: validation of the OHIP‐14

To validate the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP)-14 in a sample of patients attending general dental practice. Patients with pathology-free impacted wisdom teeth were recruited from six general dental practices in Tayside, Scotland, and followed for a year to assess the development of problems related to impaction. The OHIP-14 was completed at baseline and at 1-year follow-up, and analysed using three different scoring methods: a summary score, a weighted and standardized score and the total number of problems reported. Instrument reliability was measured by assessing internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Construct validity was assessed using a number of variables. Linear regression was then used to model the relationship between OHIP-14 and all significantly correlated variables. Responsiveness was measured using the standardized response mean (SRM). Adjusted R(2)s and SRMs were calculated for each of the three scoring methods. Estimates for the differences between adjusted R(2)s and the differences between SRMs were obtained with 95% confidence intervals. A total of 278 and 169 patients completed the questionnaire at baseline and follow-up, respectively. Reliability - Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.30 to 0.75. Alpha coefficients for all 14 items were 0.88 and 0.87 for baseline and follow-up, respectively. Test-retest coefficients ranged from 0.72 to 0.78. Validity - OHIP-14 scores were significantly correlated with number of teeth, education, main activity, the use of mouthwash, frequency of seeing a dentist, the reason for the last dental appointment, smoking, alcohol intake, pain and symptoms. Adjusted R(2)s ranged from 0.123 to 0.202 and there were no statistically significant differences between those for the three different scoring methods. Responsiveness - The SRMs ranged from 0.37 to 0.56 and there was a statistically significant difference between the summary scores method and the total number of problems method for symptomatic patients. The OHIP-14 is a valid and reliable measure of oral health-related quality of life in general dental practice and is responsive to third molar clinical change. The summary score method demonstrated performance as good as, or better than, the other methods studied.

Assessing the responsiveness of measures of oral health-related quality of life.

This paper illustrates ways of assessing the responsiveness of measures of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) by examining the sensitivity of the oral health impact profile (OHIP)-14 to change when used to evaluate a dental care program for the elderly. One hundred and sixteen elderly patients attending four municipally funded dental clinics completed a copy of the OHIP-14 prior to treatment and 1 month after the completion of treatment. The post-treatment questionnaire also included a global transition judgement that assessed subjects' perceptions of change in their oral health following treatment at the clinics. Change scores were calculated by subtracting post-treatment OHIP-14 scores from pre-treatment scores. The longitudinal construct validity of these change scores were assessed by means of their association with the global transition judgements. Measures of responsiveness included effect sizes for the change scores, the minimal important difference, and Guyatt's responsiveness index. An receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to determine the accuracy of the change scores in predicting whether patients had improved or not as a result of the treatment. Based on the global transition judgements, 60.2% of subjects reported improved oral health, 33.6% reported no change, and only 6.2% reported that it was a little worse. These changes are reflected in mean pre- and post-treatment OHIP-14 scores that declined from 15.8 to 11.5 (P < 0.001). Mean change scores showed a consistent gradient in the expected direction across categories of the global transition judgement, but differences between the groups were not significant. However, paired t-tests showed no significant differences in the pre- and post-treatment scores of stable subjects, but showed significant declines for subjects who reported improvement. Analysis of data from stable subjects indicated that OHIP-14 had excellent test-retest reliability with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.84. Effect size based on change scores for all subjects and subgroups of subjects were small to moderate. The ROC analysis indicated that OHIP-14 change scores were not good "diagnostic tests" of improvement. The minimal important difference for the OHIP-14 was of 5-scale points, but detecting this difference would require relatively large sample sizes. OHIP-14 appeared to be responsive to change. However, the magnitude of change that it detected in the context described here was modest, probably because it was designed primarily as a discriminative measure. The psychometric properties of the global transition judgements that often provide the "gold standard" for responsiveness studies need to be established.

Toothache and chewing difficulties are predictors of oral disadvantage

Original Article Chavers LS, Gilbert GH, Shelton BJ. Two-year incidence of oral disadvantage, a measure of oral health-related quality of life. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2003;31(1):21–9. Level of Evidence 2b Purpose To identify predictors of oral disadvantage, a measure of impaired oral health-related quality of life Source of Funding Government Type of Study/Design Cohort study

The relationship between normative orthodontic treatment need and oral health-related quality of life.

The first objective was to assess whether having had orthodontic treatment affected the levels of oral health-related quality of life impacts in Brazilian adolescents. A second objective was to assess the relationship between a normative clinical measure of orthodontic treatment need and two measures of oral health-related quality of life. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Bauru, SP, Brazil, on 1675 randomly selected adolescents aged between 15 and 16 years. Adolescents were clinically examined using the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). Two oral health-related quality of life measures, namely the Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) and the shortened version of the Oral Health Impacts Profile (OHIP-14) were used to assess the adolescents' oral health-related impacts. Multiple logistic regression was used in the data analysis. Adolescents who had completed orthodontic treatment reported less oral health impacts on their daily life activities than those currently under treatment or those who never had any treatment. Combining the IOTN index with either of the two oral health-related quality of life measures used in this study provided more information about the adolescents' perceived satisfaction with their appearance than the IOTN on its own. Current methods of assessing orthodontic need should be complemented by oral health-related quality of life measures with valid psychometric properties, and measures of perceived need.