Impact of Oral Health and Sociodemographic Factors on Quality of Life: A Cross-sectional Study

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of oral health and socioeconomic variables on the quality of life in a sample of low-income Brazilians. The sample consisted of 400 adults assisted by the Rescuing Smiles Social Program (Pernambuco University) in June 2014 in the town of Arcoverde, Pernambuco. Two 18+ physically and mentally healthy people were chosen to participate in the study per household. The data obtained were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. About 75% of participants were female, averaging 42.65 years; 59% had elementary schooling and 27% were illiterate; 63% of them needed dental restorative treatment, 59.5% periodontal, and 43.3% surgical procedures; and 68.2% of the respondents showed partial tooth loss, 22.8% were totally edentulous, and 9% had full dentition. Oral health impact profile (OHIP)-14 average score was 14.91, considered low. The highest averages were observed in low-income individuals (16.25). Individuals with total or partial tooth loss had an average 14.26 and 15.79, respectively, thus showing a statistically significant difference as compared with total dentate (9.86). Although low-income individuals with tooth loss showed the highest OHIP-14 averages, it could be concluded that oral condition did not affect the quality of life of most individuals in the population studied. Thus, oral health did not have a significant impact on respondent health awareness. This study showed the need to better inform the public of the relevance of oral health to quality of life. Oral health, Oral health impact profile-14, Quality of life.