Anxiety, stress, depression, oral health status and behaviours in Romanian hemodialysis patients.
OBJECTIVES. Our aim was to examine the self-reported anxiety, stress and depression, oral health status and behaviors among Romanian adults individuals on renal dialysis.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study design was used. The sample consisted of 161 Romanian adults (mean age 53.9 years; 44% women; 66% married). The questionnaire included information about socio-demographic factors, behavioral factors, self-reported oral health status, anxiety, stress and depression.


RESULTS
99.4% of the participants reported to have current non-treated caries, 94.4% were not satisfied by appearance of own teeth, 97.5% presented extracted teeth and 64.6% of them reported to have gum bleeding. 34.5% of the individuals brushed once a day or less, 92.5% of them never used dental floss and 78.3% never used mouthrinse. Only 13% of participants were regular users of the dental-care system (i.e. they had at least one dental visit in the last year) and 89.4% had seen the dentist only when treatment is needed or when in pain. The reasons for not visiting the dentist were in 51.6% of the participants the dental anxiety and in 37.3% the financial problems. A high percentage of dialysis patients presented anxiety (85.1%), stress (60.9%) and depression in everyday life (61.5%). No influence of duration of hemodialysis was noted among the study variables.


CONCLUSIONS
The results support the view that there is an increased risk for anxiety, stress, depression and impaired dental/gingival health and behaviours among individuals on renal dialysis. Early dental treatment and psychological interventions should be intensified in these subjects, and are of interdisciplinary importance.
Dumitrescu
Alexandrina Lizica
AL
Institute of Clinical Dentistry, University of Tromsø, Norway. alexandrina_l_dumitrescu@yahoo.co.uk
Gârneaţă
Liliana
L
Guzun
Olga
O
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D015995:Prevalence; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*