Oral health-related quality of life in elderly women participating in a 5 coexistence group in southern Brazil 6 7 8 Oral health and quality of life in elderly women Abstract 25 The objective of this work was to evaluate the association between 26 quality of life with the oral health in elderly women participating in a coexistence 27 group in Southern Brazil. Study of the descriptive type, analytical, cross-28 sectional approach, with women aged 60 years or more, participants of a 29 coexistence group in a city in Southern Brazil. Data collection used the 30 instrument Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). The study had the 31 participation of 64 elderly women aged between 60 and 88 years old with a 32 mean of 69.8 ± 7.31 years. The areas that presented the highest values were 33 "Physical Pain", "Psychological Distress" and "Physical Disability". The highest 34 averages of the total scores of the OHIP-14 occurred in individuals with lower 35 family income and low education, who showed signs of depression, changes in 36 taste, difficulty to feel the taste of certain foods and malnutrition. Low education, 37 change of taste and malnutrition by the arm circumference were associated with 38 poor quality of life arising from oral disorders. 39 Introduction 40 Oral health problems are recognized as important causes of a negative 41 impact on daily activities, causing pain, suffering, psychological constraints and 42 social isolation. A decreased perception of oral condition can lead to lack of 43 daily oral care, need for dental treatment and, consequently, a poor oral health, 44 affecting quality of life [1]. 45The Brazilian regions present great inequality in the utilization of dental 46 care and in people's oral health condition if we consider the access to services. 47The most vulnerable groups, such as rural populations, elders and poor people, 3 48 with less schooling, have the worst oral health conditions and face more 49 obstacles in the use of health services [2][3]. 50The factors associated with the non-utilization of dental services are sex, 51 race/skin color, schooling, income, health insurance, lack of self-perception of 52 oral health and absence of teeth. These factors were also associated with not 53 going to dental consultations for more than 12 months, and other predisposing 54 characteristics, such as age, social networking, and feeding difficulties by oral 55 health problems [4]. 56 Therefore, the social interaction of the elderly and its influence on oral 57 health, and, consequently, on their quality of life, become important. In Brazil, 58 from the concept of active aging, Third Age coexistence groups emerged with 59 places for social gathering as well as occupation of free time with physical and 60 leisure activities among the elderly [5]. These activities provide elderly people 61 integration with a social network with a healthier lifestyle, enabling 62 improvements in health that hindered activities of daily life, thus influencing in a 63 better quality of life [6]. These groups are chara...