The Impact of Oral Health Conditions on the Quality of Life of Preschool Aged Children

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of common oral health conditions and their treatment experiences on the quality of life (QoL) of young children and their parents/caregivers.

Methods: A prospective interventional study was carried out on children aged 2-5 years and their parents/caregivers in two hospitals in Lagos. Information about the impact of oral health on the children's' QoL was obtained from parents/caregivers by means of interviewer administered Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) questionnaire. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20. All comparisons of paired measurements (pre and post) were based on the paired t-test statistics.

Results: A total of 208 children participated in the study. One hundred and eighty-eight (90.4%) parents/caregivers reported one form of impact on their children's oral health related QoL. Acute herpetic gingivostomatitis and chronic marginal gingivitis had the greatest and the least negative impact respectively, on the QoL of children. There was a reduction in the subjects' total ECOHIS scores after treatment of their oral conditions.

Conclusion: Oral health conditions had negative impacts on the QoL of preschool aged children and their parents/caregiver. Acute herpetic gingivostomatitis had more negative impact on the children's QoL than chronic marginal gingivitis. There was significant improvement in the oral health related QoL of the children and their parents/caregiver after dental treatment.

Keywords: Oral health conditions, preschool aged children, ECOHIS, Quality of Life