Perceived impact of oral health conditions among minority adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
This study assessed the perceived impact of oral health conditions, and the relationship of two measures of self-reported outcome, the RAND SF-36 and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP), to clinical indicators of oral health among inner-city adolescents.


METHODS
A convenience sample of 93 minority adolescents completed the RAND SF-36 and the OHIP and 76 of them completed a clinical dental examination assessing DMFS.


RESULTS
Participants averaged 14.4 (SD = 1.2) years old; 52 percent were female; and 86 percent were African-American. The mean DMFS was 8.8 (SD = 6.3). Participants reported relatively poor general health on the SF-36 as well as poor oral health on the OHIP. None of the SF-36 subscales were significantly related to DMFS. OHIP subscales were consistently related to DMFS--those with worse oral health reported more impacts. With the exception of the bodily pain subscale of the SF-36, the SF-36 and OHIP subscales were significantly correlated with Pearson's correlations ranging from -.21 to -.57 (P < .05).


CONCLUSIONS
Although the SF-36 and the OHIP were correlated, the OHIP appears to be more highly associated with the impacts of oral health conditions than the SF-36 among inner-city adolescents who reported low general and oral health quality of life.
Broder
H L
HL
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Dental School, Behavioral Sciences-General Dentistry and Community Health, Newark 07103, USA. broder@umdnj.edu
Slade
G
G
Caine
R
R
Reisine
S
S
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000145:classification; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006262:Health; D006304:Health Status; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups; D009909:Oral Health; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011788:Quality of Life; D012647:Self-Assessment; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000145:classification; D014504:Urban Health