An assessment of sensitivity to change of the Oral Health Impact Profile in a clinical trial.
Patient-based assessment of oral health outcomes is of growing interest. Measurement of change following clinical intervention is a key property of a health status measure. To date, most of the research on oral health status measurement has focused on construct and discriminant validity of health status measures.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to assess sensitivity to change of an oral-specific health status measure, the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP).


METHODS
Study subjects were in three groups, namely, edentulous/edentate subjects who requested and received complete implant stabilised oral prostheses (IG, n=26), edentulous/edentate subjects who requested implants but received conventional dentures (CDG1, n=22), and edentulous subjects who had new conventional complete dentures (CDG2, n=35). Data were collected pre- and post-operatively using the OHIP and a validated denture satisfaction questionnaire.


RESULTS
All subjects reported similar low levels of denture satisfaction pre-operatively. Denture problems had a more significant impact on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQL) for implant seekers (IG and CDG1 subjects) than subjects seeking conventional dentures (CDG2). Following treatment, significant improvement in satisfaction with oral prostheses and OHRQL was reported by IG and CDG2 subjects; the level of improvement was more moderate for CDG1 subjects. OHIP change scores were correlated with denture satisfaction change scores.


CONCLUSIONS
It was concluded that sensitivity to change of the OHIP was good. This property was not improved by using statement weights.
Allen
P F
PF
Department of Restorative Dentistry, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. p.f.allen@ncl.ac.uk
McMillan
A S
AS
Locker
D
D
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D017266:Dental Prosthesis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003824:Denture, Complete / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000534:rehabilitation; D009909:Oral Health; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires