Association between oral health-related quality of life and structural determinants of health among elderly populations. a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Abstract Background Oral diseases disproportionately affect poorer and disadvantaged groups of society. Despite this, there is scarce evidence regarding the monitoring of the structural determinants of health and their impact on oral health status. Thus, this systematic review addresses the question: Is oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of elderly persons (aged ≥ 60 years) associated with structural determinants of health? Methods The present systematic review of observational studies applied the following inclusion and exclusion criteria; inclusion criteria: participants living in the community aged ≥ 60 years, reporting OHRQoL using Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP), Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) or Oral Impact Daily Profile (OIDP). Exclusion criteria: studies reporting outcomes of participants aged 50% of the studies included and the high inter- study heterogeneity. Conclusions Structural determinants of health contribute to a good quality of life related to oral health. Upstream interventions are essential for improving oral health conditions and quality of life among older adults. Registration The review protocol was registered (CRD42024573590) with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) system.

Keywords

• Oral health-related quality of life
• Structural determinants of health
• Oral health
• Macroeconomic factors
• Social policy
• Public policy