title: The Association between health-related quality of life and prosthetic status and prosthetic needs in Taiwanese adults.
abstract: The objective of this study was to describe aspects of prosthetic statuses and needs and to evaluate their relationship with health-related quality of life in Taiwan. The study participants, aged 18 years and above, were recruited from a community survey, and each of the total 2469 participants received a dental examination and completed a questionnaire. Multivariable analysis was used to assess the adjusted means of health-related quality of life (SF-36) in both prosthetic status and need. The results showed that 12.6% of those aged 65 years and above were edentulous. The proportion of prosthetic need increased as age increased (39.7% to 61.3%). Multivariate analysis revealed that participants with 'removable prosthesis' had higher physical health scores than those with 'non-removable prosthesis'. The scores of mental health measurement decreased in people with need for full prostheses in relation to people without need for any prosthesis. Therefore, fulfilling prosthetic needs is not only about recovering oral masticatory function, but also concerns improvement of both physical and mental health-related quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan.
authors.forename: H-C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: Y-H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: S-K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: S-F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Yap
authors.forename: P-S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D017266:Dental Prosthesis / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult