title: Oral health-related quality of life of elderly Germans--comparison of GOHAI and OHIP-14.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To obtain information about the subjective oral health status of non-clinical elderly populations of urban regions of Germany, one in the East and one in the West, by using OHIP-14 and, for first time, the GOHAI, and, furthermore, to compare the results obtained by use of both instruments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomly chosen, non-clinical elderly population in urban regions of Germany.
  
  
  METHODS
  197 participants (51% male) born in the years 1930-1932.
  
  
  METHODS
  GOHAI, OHIP-14.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median GOHAI score was 54; median OHIP-14 score was 2. Scores indicative of severely impaired oral health were rare. The effect of living in eastern or western Germany was of minor significance. Although the internal consistency of both measures was comparable and the same positive association with psychological wellbeing, absence of dry mouth, burning mouth, and removable dentures (p < 0.05) was observed, differences occurred. In simultaneous analysis of all items, factor analysis revealed only partial overlap of the items in extracted factors. Furthermore, the extreme score indicating no impairment was five times more frequent for OHIP-14. Of those who scored zero in OHIP-14, only 20% had the GOHAI equivalent score of 60, and for some GOHAI items the answer category for highest impairment was obtained.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GOHAI scores for this randomly chosen non-clinical group enable comparison with scores for Germany measured in the future. The differences between GOHAI and OHIP-14 make it necessary to select the most appropriate instrument for a planned purpose and study population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. alexander.hassel@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hassel
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Steuker
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rolko
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rammelsberg
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nitschke
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002054:Burning Mouth Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003832:Denture, Partial, Removable / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009909:Oral Health; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012494:Sampling Studies; D057566:Self Report; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D014505:Urban Population; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology