Oral Health Related Quality of Life among Elderly People in a General Practice Setting in Lagos

Abstract

Background: Oral health-related quality of life is a multidimensional construct. Oral health has an impact on an individual's daily functioning, wellbeing  and the overall quality of life. The elderly are prone to several dental problems such as dental caries and periodontal disease which constitute the major  oral health burden all over the world. These two diseases have a high prevalence rate, wide geographical spread, graded severity and are important  public health challenges. It is therefore important to examine the role of oral diseases with age and its impact on the quality of life of the elderly.

Aim: To assess the pattern of oral health and quality of life amongst elderly patients.

Materials and Methods: It is a descriptive cross sectional study, conducted among 294 elderly patients attending Orile Agege General Hospital, Lagos.  Data was collected using a semi-structured, interviewer administered questionnaire for individual's oral health using the WHO Oral Health  Questionnaires for the adult and oral health related quality of life using Oral Health Impact Profile. Data obtained was subjected to descriptive, bivariate  and multivariate analysis using IBM SPSS 20.

Results: The mean age of the elderly was 68.65 ± 6.58 years. Nine point five percent of the respondents had less than 20 natural teeth, 46.6% were  experiencing discomfort in mouth, 30.6% were using partial removable dentures and 4.8% were utilizing full lower or full upper removable dentures. Only  6.1% reported poor tooth condition and 8.2% stated poor gum condition. However, 42.9% of the respondents cleaned their teeth two times or more  daily, 15.0% and 85.7% of subjects used tooth-brush/dental floss and fluoridated toothpaste respectively. On the oral health quality of life (OHQoL), 35.4%  had some impact of oral health on QoL with the dominant domains being physical pain (50.3%), psychological discomfort (44.6%) and functional  limitation (43.2%). OHQoL was influenced by the number of natural teeth (OR = 5.417, p<0.001), discomfort in mouth (OR = 2.128, p = 0.002), removable  dentures (OR = 2.732, p = 0.001) and frequent tooth-brushing (OR = 1.770, p = 0.021).

Conclusion: The number of natural teeth, discomfort in the mouth, presence of removable dentures and frequent mouth-washing influenced the quality  of life of the elderly.