Quality of life related to oral health in adults with removable prosthetic rehabilitation

Abstract

The evaluation of the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is important for clinical assessment and could be an indicator of the quality of the treatment received. Objective: To evaluate the OHRQoL in adults with removable prostheses in relation with patient characteristics such as age, sex, type and time of use of the prosthesis, previous experience and perception about the stability of the prosthesis. Materials and Methods: 217 patients from the Dental Clinic of the National University of San Marcos-Peru were evaluated after rehabilitation with a removable prosthesis. A structured questionnaire was applied by telephone interview. The evaluation of the OHRQoL was carried out using the General/Geriatric Oral Health Evaluation Index (GOHAI). For the statistical analysis, the Mann Whitney U test, the Kruskal-Wallis H test and the Spearman correlation were used. Results: The sample included 63 men (29%) and 154 women (71%) with an average age of 66.34. The average GOHAI score was 52.44+8.15. The GOHAI score was related to age (p=0.241), sex (p=0.110), type of prosthesis (p=0.069), previous experience (p=0.293), and perception of movement of the prosthesis (p<0.001). Conclusions: The GOHAI score indicates a moderate quality of life related to oral health after prosthetic rehabilitation. The GOHAI index can be considered effective for the evaluation of the OHRQoL.

Keywords

• quality of life
• oral health
• mouth rehabilitation
• health status indicators
• adult
• peru