Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Adolescents as Measured with the Child-OIDP Questionnaire: A Systematic Review

Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) refers to impacts of oral health on physical, psychological, functional and social aspects of individuals. Among specific measurement instruments to assess OHRQoL in adolescents, the C-OIDP (Child Oral Impact on Daily Performances) questionnaire has demonstrated validity, reliability and suitable psychometric properties. Our aim was to identify cross-sectional studies using the C-OIDP questionnaire to perform a qualitative synthesis and assessment of their methodology and results. A literature electronic search was carried out on the PubMed-Medline, Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), EMBASE, LILACS and SciELO databases, followed by a study selection process and quality assessment. OHRQoL perceived by adolescents is related to age, sex and sociodemographic factors. Eating is the most frequently affected dimension and toothache is the first cause of impact, showing a generally mild intensity and severity of impact. The impact on oral quality of life is greater in younger adolescents. Several factors such as previous caries experience, the DMFT (Decayed, Missed, Filled, Tooth) index, caries in primary teeth, canker sores, bleeding gums and malocclusion have been associated with a lower level of OHRQoL. More longitudinal studies are needed to clarify divergent results and complete our knowledge of oral impacts on quality of life.

Oral health-related quality of life among 11-12 year old indigenous children in Malaysia

BACKGROUND

Poor oral health among Malaysian indigenous Orang Asli (OA) children may impact on their daily performances.

AIM

To assess the oral health status, related behaviours, and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among OA children in Cameron Highlands (CH), Malaysia, and to identify the predictor(s) for poor OHRQoL.

DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study involving 249, 11-12 year old OA children from 4 OA primary schools in CH. The children completed a self-administered questionnaire comprising information on socio-demographics, oral health-related behaviours, and the Malay Child Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (Malay Child-OIDP) index followed by an oral examination. Data were entered into the SPSS version 23.0 software. Non-parametric tests and multiple logistic regression were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

The response rate was 91.2% (n = 227/249). The prevalence of caries was 61.6% (mean DMFT = 1.36, mean dft = 1.01) and for gingivitis was 96.0%. Despite the majority reported brushing their teeth ≥ 2x/day (83.7%) with fluoride toothpaste (80.2%), more than two-thirds chewed betel nut ≥ 1/day (67.4%). Majority of the children (97.8%) had a dental check-up once a year. Nearly three-fifths (58.6%) reported experiencing oral impacts on their daily performances in the past 3 months (mean score = 5.45, SD = 8.5). Most of the impacts were of "very little" to "moderate" levels of impact intensity with 90.2% had up to 4 daily performances affected. Most of the impacts were on eating (35.2%), cleaning teeth (22.0%) and relaxing activities (15.9%). Caries in primary teeth is associated with oral impacts among the OA children.

CONCLUSIONS

The 11-12 year old OA children in Cameron Highland had high prevalence of caries and gingivitis with the majority chewed betel nut regularly. Caries in primary teeth is associated with poor OHRQoL. Future programmes should target younger age group children to promote positive oral hygiene practices, reduce caries, and improve quality of life.