INFLUENCE OF ORAL HEALTH ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF OLDER ADULTS: A PILOT STUDY

Objective. To assess seniors’ attitudes towards oral health and general health related quality of life.

Background. The world population is rapidly aging, and more people live up to old age with full dentition. Oral health is tightly intertwined with general health. Institutionalization of elderly becomes more evident and understanding of the impact of dental treatment on patient’s life becomes substantial for better treatment planning.

Material and Methods. This study consisted of residential home and non-residential home-dwelling seniors from Lithuania. Lithuanian versions of Oral Health Index Profile (OHIP-14) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF short questionnaire (WHOQoL-BREF) were applied among older adults above 60 years of age.

Results.  47 senior adults, 36 (76.6%) senior women and 11 (23.4%) senior men whose ages were within ages of 63 to 104 years have partaken in the study. The average score of the OHIP-14 questionnaire for seniors living in residential homes was 12.55(±10.945), while for non-residential home dwelling elderly it was 23.84(±14.932). OHRQoL significantly differed between residential home and non-residential home dwelling elderly. Non-residential home dwelling  seniors often experienced taste disturbances (p=0,003), mouth pain (p=0,016), eating problems (p=0,004), found it difficult to relax (p=0,004), were often embarrassed (p=0,013), irritated (p=0,009), had trouble in daily work (p=0,004), were less satisfied with life (p=0,029) and were often unable to function due to their dental problems (p=0,007). Higher average scores of the WHOQoL-BREF domains were found in seniors living in residential home than in non-residential home dwelling elderly: 13.84(±2.43) and 12.00(±2.43) in the physical health, 15,45(±1,65) and 13,33(±2,61) in social relations, 15,30(±1,42) and 13,48(±2,58) in the environment domain. In the group of elderly living in residential home, statistically significantly lower average OHIP-14 score was found for seniors with higher education 8.09(±8.19), and for higher for seniors with lower education 17.00(±11.87). No statistically significant correlations were found with OHRQoL and sociodemographic indicators in the group of non-residential home dwelling elderly (p> 0,05).

Conclusions. Oral health of seniors living in residential homes had less of an impact on quality of life than of non-residential home dwelling seniors (p=0,007). The main differences in quality of life were found in physical health (p=0,029), social relationships (p=0,000048) and environment domains (p=0,003) between the two groups. Sociodemographic characteristics – age, gender, marital status, independence level – had no effect on the OHRQoL of seniors (p> 0.05), however, education was a significant factor only for seniors living in residential homes (p = 0.045).