Oral health conditions and quality of life of elderly users of the Unified National Health System

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the oral health status and socio-economic conditions of the elderly, which are users of the Brazilian Unified Public Health System (SUS) and its relationship to a subjective indicator of impacts of oral conditions on quality of life (Oral Health Impact Profile OHIP-14).METHODS: It is a descriptive cross-sectional exploratory study developed in the second semester of 2011. The sample consisted of 76 elderly (65-74 years old) users of the public dental service at the Dental Specialties Center at the Faculty of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. The methodological strategy adopted for data collection was the structured interview and secondary data were obtained from medical records and reports. To perform the statistical analysis it was used an exploratory analysis of multivariate data by means of STATA Software.RESULTS: The frequencies of the dimensions of the OHIP-14 with the greatest impact were pain (13.16%) and psychological distress (14.47%). The low impact association was represented by social disability (71%) and social disadvantage (63%). The gender, type of housing, necessity and prosthesis wearing were not associated with measures of quality of life related to oral health. It was observed a good correlation between the perception (r = 0.542, p