Caries Res 2015;49:266-274
(DOI:10.1159/000375377)
Abstract
This study assessed the extent to which clinically
measured oral health conditions, adjusted for sociodemographic and oral
health behavior determinants, impact adversely on the oral
health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in a sample of Belgian young
adults. The null hypothesis was that, among young adults, the oral
health conditions would have no impact on their quality of life. The
participants were 611 new patients aged 16-32 years seeking consultation
at the Saint-Luc University Hospital in Brussels in 2010-2011. The
patients (56.0% female) were examined for their oral health conditions
and answered a validated questionnaire about sociodemographic and oral
health behavior determinants in addition to questions about their
OHRQoL. The abridged Oral Health Impact Profile-14 was used to assess
the OHRQoL. Interexaminer reliability for caries was 0.86 (95% CI
0.84-0.89, nonweighted κ). The outcome was a high score on the OHRQoL
(median split). Hierarchical logistic regression analysis showed that
young adults with clinical absolute D
1MFS scores between 9
and 16 (OR = 2.14, p = 0.031) and between 17 and 24 (OR = 3.10, p =
0.003) were significantly more likely to report a high impact on their
quality of life than those with lower scores. Also, periodontal
conditions compromised significantly (OR = 1.79, p = 0.011) the quality
of life of young adults. In conclusion, this study identified oral
health conditions with a significant adverse effect on the OHRQoL of
young adults. However, the prevalence of young adults reporting impacts
on at least 1 performance affected fairly often or very often was
limited to 18.7% of the sample.
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