Oral‐health‐related quality of life of dental patients: a hospital based study in far north Queensland, Australia

Objective To investigate the prevalence, extent, and severity of oral‐health‐related quality of life among dental patients in far north Queensland, Australia. Methods A questionnaire was designed consisting of two parts: socio‐demographic questions and the short form of Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP‐14) in part 1 and 2 respectively. The survey was conducted from July to August 2014 among patients attending the James Cook University Dental Clinic. Results Five hundred and nineteen questionnaires were distributed and collected. Of these, 40 were excluded from the analysis due to being incomplete. Therefore, a total of 479 questionnaires were available for the analysis. Half the respondents (50.9%) reported one or more of the 14 impacts as “fairly often” or “very often.” The individual OHIP items with the highest prevalence recorded were physical pain and psychological discomfort. Females (52.2%) experienced a slightly higher prevalence compared to males (49.3%) but this difference was not statistically significant (Chi‐square test: P > 0.05). Participants who identified as Indigenous Australian or Torres Strait Islanders and those in the 36–50 age group recorded the highest prevalence (Kruskal–Wallis test: P