Oral health-related quality ofl ife in an adult population

The aim: The overall aim of this licentiate thesis was to describe and analyze oral health-related quality of life measured with OHIP-14. The thesis comprises two studies, each with a specific aim. Study I: To describe oral health-related quality of life measured with OHIP-14 in an Swedish adult population Study II: To study the relationship between oral health-related quality of life, measured with OHIP-14, and subjective as well as objective dry mouth conditions in fragile old people. Furthermore, the aim was to study the reliability and validity of a new instrument (VAS) to measure dry mouth Material and methods: Study I comprised a stratified random sample of 519 individuals 20-80 years of age. In Study II, 41 randomly selected fragile old people, residents at three different community care centers, participated. In both studies, the questionnaire OHIP-14 was used for measurement of oral health-related quality of life. The participants in Study II answered a questionnaire for subjectively experienced dry mouth (VAS). For objective dry mouth measurements, saliva was absorbed into a preweighted cotton roll. Results: In Study I, 21% of the respondents stated that they had no oral problems that had a negative impact on their well-being. In Study II, the corresponding figure was 71%. In study I the mean value for OHIP-14 was 6.4 (SD=7.1) for the entire population; 5.9 (SD=7.1) for men and 6.8 (SD=7.2) for women in. Subjects, who frequently experienced problems related to oral health, with scores ranging from 16 to 41 points, accounted for 10% of the study group. In Study II, significant associations were identified between both objectively measured respective subjectively experienced dry mouth and oral health-related quality of life. The validity of the VAS instrument was good for subjective mouth dryness, but poor for objectively measured dry mouth in fragile old people. Conclusion: From Study I it can be concluded that, in this Swedish population, a number of individuals, both young and old, experience oral problems that have a negative impact on their well-being. From Study II, the conclusion is that dry mouth (both objective and subjective) is significantly associated with poorer oral health-related quality of life, underlining the value of monitoring dry mouth conditions in the care of fraigile old people