title: The impact of oral health on the quality of life of nursing home residents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Good oral health in older residents of nursing homes is important for general health and quality of life. Very few studies have assessed how oral symptoms affect residents' quality of life.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the clinical and subjective oral health, including oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL), and the association of oral symptoms with OHRQoL in older people residing in nursing homes in Islington, London.
  
  
  METHODS
  Overall, 325 residents from nine nursing homes were clinically examined and 180 residents were interviewed to assess their oral symptoms and their OHRQoL using the OIDP measure. Managers and carers working in the homes were also interviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Almost two thirds of the sample were dentate (64.5%). 61.3% of dentate and 50.9% of edentate residents reported problems such as dry mouth, sore cracked lips, broken teeth and toothache and ill-fitting dentures. Oral health impacted considerably upon resident's OHRQoL; 20.2% of dentate and 30.9% of edentate reported at least one oral impact in the past 6 months. Sensitive teeth, toothache, bleeding gums, dry mouth and loose natural teeth among the dentate and loose or ill-fitting dentures among the edentate were strongly associated with higher prevalence of oral impacts even after adjusting for demographic and socio-economic factors, and for the number of teeth (dentate only).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The burden of oral conditions was considerable. Oral symptoms were very common and were strongly associated with residents' worse OHRQoL. Health promotion programmes are important to help residents maintain an acceptable level of oral health and function.
authors.affiliation: UCL Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. jessie.porter@ucl.ac.uk.|The Whittington Hospital Trust, Magdala Avenue, London, N19 5NF, UK. jessie.porter@ucl.ac.uk.|Murdoch Health Consulting Limited, 6th Floor, New Baltic House, 65 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4BE, UK. jessie.porter@ucl.ac.uk.|Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Turner Street, London, E1 2AD, UK. jessie.porter@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jessie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.affiliation: UCL Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.|The Whittington Hospital Trust, Magdala Avenue, London, N19 5NF, UK.|Murdoch Health Consulting Limited, 6th Floor, New Baltic House, 65 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4BE, UK.|Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Turner Street, London, E1 2AD, UK.
authors.forename: Antiopi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ntouva
authors.affiliation: UCL Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.|The Whittington Hospital Trust, Magdala Avenue, London, N19 5NF, UK.|Murdoch Health Consulting Limited, 6th Floor, New Baltic House, 65 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4BE, UK.|Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Turner Street, London, E1 2AD, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Read
authors.affiliation: UCL Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.|The Whittington Hospital Trust, Magdala Avenue, London, N19 5NF, UK.|Murdoch Health Consulting Limited, 6th Floor, New Baltic House, 65 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4BE, UK.|Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Turner Street, London, E1 2AD, UK.
authors.forename: Mandy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murdoch
authors.affiliation: UCL Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.|The Whittington Hospital Trust, Magdala Avenue, London, N19 5NF, UK.|Murdoch Health Consulting Limited, 6th Floor, New Baltic House, 65 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4BE, UK.|Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Turner Street, London, E1 2AD, UK.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ola
authors.affiliation: UCL Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.|The Whittington Hospital Trust, Magdala Avenue, London, N19 5NF, UK.|Murdoch Health Consulting Limited, 6th Floor, New Baltic House, 65 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4BE, UK.|Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Turner Street, London, E1 2AD, UK.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tsakos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000592:standards*; D009909:Oral Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014098:Toothache / Q000523:psychology