Subjective Oral Health-related Quality Of Life Research Articles

The Relationship between Oral Health-Related Quality of Life and Body Mass Index in an Older Population from Southern Italy: The Salus in Apulia Study.

The assessment of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) evaluated the impact of an individual's oral health on the patient's physical and psychosocial status. We evaluated the association between subjective OHRQoL, measured with the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) questionnaire, and unfavorable body mass index (BMI) (i.e., too high or too low) in a large population-based study on older adults from Southern Italy. Moreover, we assessed which of the seven OHIP-14 domains was the most strongly associated with an unfavorable BMI. We used data on a subpopulation of the Salus in Apulia Study, including 216 older adults. BMI < 18.4 kg/m2 and >30 kg/m2 were classified as unfavorable, while values between 18.5 and 30 kg/m2 were classified as ideal. A higher OHIP-14 total score increased the risk of an unfavorable BMI (odds ratio (OR): 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01-1.15). In the model adjusted for age, sex, education, hypertension, carbohydrate consumption, and alcohol consumption, this finding was confirmed with a higher OHIP-14 total score increasing the risk of an unfavorable BMI (OR: 1.10, 95% CI: 1.01-1.22), and higher age linked to a decreased risk of an unfavorable BMI (OR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.82-0.97). In a random forest regression model, the most important predictive domains/sub-scales of OHIP-14 in the mean decrease in the Gini coefficient for unfavorable BMI were, in order of decreasing importance, physical pain, functional limitation, psychological discomfort, physical disability, social disability, psychological disability, and handicap. In older age, negative OHRQoL, particularly linked to the physical pain domain, increased the risk of being underweight or overweight and obesity.

Correlation between Oral Health-Related Quality of Life and Objectively Measured Oral Health in People with Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes.

It is a well-known fact that people with Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (EDS) report a worse oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) than the general population. The aim of this study was to examine whether there is a correlation between the subjective OHRQoL and the objectively measured oral health in people with EDS. To determine the subjective OHRQoL, the German version of the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire was used. Furthermore, all participants in the study were clinically examined, and the measured parameters were recorded using the Physical Oral Health Index (PhOX). Altogether, records of 46 participants were collected. The median (interquartile range (IQR)) of the OHIP-14 was 17 (23) points and the median of the PhOX was 73 (16) points. However, a statistically significant correlation could not be demonstrated (r = −0.240, p = 0.108). In the observed cohort, for participants who reported having pain often or very often, the OHIP score (median = 24, IQR = 18, p < 0.01) was higher than the score of the group given by participants who never or intermittently experienced pain (median = 8, IQR = 18). In conclusion, patients with EDS showed a reduced OHRQoL, although it was not possible to observe an association between the subjective OHRQoL and the objective oral health. However, participants who often or very often suffer from pain in their tooth, mouth, and jaw areas showed a reduced OHRQoL.

Thirty years of portraying oral health through models: what have we accomplished in oral health-related quality of life research?

This paper critically examines the different models of oral health aimed at representing oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and explores the extent to which such models changed conceptually to accommodate current theories and empirical knowledge of oral function, impairment and disability. A critical synthesis of the existing literature based on a comprehensive yet non-systematic review using Ovid-MEDLINE was performed. Full text of manuscripts available on models of oral health and OHRQoL published in English between 1 January 1950 and 30 June 2013 were identified. Nineteen manuscripts were identified presenting and discussing various models of oral health and OHRQoL that are predominantly negative and linear. These models are mostly based on sick role-related theories and do not readily accommodate the biopsychosocial theories of oral health. Alternative portrayals have emerged to include positive behaviours and adaptive strategies dynamically, but have yet to influence patient care and the development of subjective OHRQoL indicators. Despite the multitude of graphical representations of concepts, dental research has remained somewhat 'linear' in portraying the consequences of oral diseases as a one-way street. Although the conceptualization of oral health has evolved in the past 30 years, dental research still refers to it as the absence of disease in more than half a dozen models of OHRQoL focused mostly on dysfunction and disability.