title: Perceived influence of oral health upon quality of life in heart transplant patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A study was made of heart transplant patient perception of the influence of oral health upon quality of life, based on the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-49) questionnaire validated for Spanish speaking subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional evaluation was made of the heart transplant patients followed-up on in the Heart Transplantation Unit of Reina Sofía University Hospital (Spain), using the OHIP-49 questionnaire. The included patients were all over age 18 and signed the corresponding informed consent to participation in the study. The data were entered in a database and analyzed using the SPSS statistical package.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 150 heart transplant patients (118 males and 32 females, with a mean age of 54.94 years; range 19-79) were studied. The subjects showed a poor perceived influence of oral health upon quality of life, with a mean score of 24.43 out of a possible total of 196 points. Women showed significantly improved perception of the influence of oral health upon quality of life versus men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The subjects in our study showed a poor perceived influence of oral health upon quality of life.
authors.affiliation: La Carlota Primary Care Center, Guadalquivir District, Córdoba, Andalusian Health Service, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Segura-Saint-Gerons
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Segura-Saint-Gerons
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alcántara-Luque
authors.forename: José-María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Arizón-del Prado
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Foronda-Garcia-Hidalgo
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blanco-Hungría
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D011788:Quality of Life; D055815:Young Adult