Oral health-related quality of life and its associated factors in an Indian adult population.
OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this study were to describe oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and its associated factors in an Indian adult population.


METHODS
Four hundred and fourteen general dental patients completed the Indian translations of the oral health impact profile (OHIP)-14 and the general health questionnaire (GHQ)-12 through personal interviews. A clinical examination was also performed for dental caries, gingivitis and plaque levels.


RESULTS
Sufficient reliability (infinity = 0.85) and construct validity were demonstrated for the questionnaire. The mean decayed, missing or filled teeth of the study population was 6.93 and the mean gingival index and plaque index scores were 1.07 and 1.06, respectively. Caries status and the number of missing teeth were found to be significantly correlated with most of the subdomains of the OHIP-14. The GHQ-12 scores were also significantly correlated with the 'functional limitation' and 'psychological disability' domains of the OHIP-14. Higher OHIP-14 scores were associated with higher dental anxiety. Females perceived a higher sense of 'social handicap' and 'handicap' due to their oral status than males. It was also found that patients with caries and missing teeth had higher GHQ-12 scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study showed that caries status, psychological distress and dental anxiety had an important effect on the OHRQoL.
Acharya
Shashidhar
S
Department of Community Dentistry, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal University, Manipal 576104, India. shashidhar_acharya@yahoo.com
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult