Oral health and quality of life among elderly in Thai

Abstract

Oral health contributes physically and psychologically to quality of life. Objective: To investigate the relationship of oral health status with oral health related and general Quality of Life (QOL) in elderly. Methods: Subjects were 612 community dwelling Thai aged 60 years or older. A questionnaire was evaluate socio-demographics, general oral health assessment index (GOHAI) and world health organization quality of life (WHOQOL). Oral examinations assessed teeth present, decayed teeth, gingival bleeding, pocket depth, functional tooth units (FTUs) and salivary flow rate. Results: For dentate subjects (n=428), logistic regression showed that teeth present, decayed teeth, gingival bleeding, pocket depth, FTUs and saliva flow rate were associated with GOHAI (p<0.05). Regarding WHOQOL, teeth present, gingival bleeding and FTUs were associated with physical domain (p<0.05). Teeth present, decayed teeth, gingival bleeding and FTUs were related with psychological domain (p<0.05). Teeth present and FTUs were associated with environmental and social domain (p<0.05). For edentulous subjects (n=184), denture wearing was associated with GOHAI and all domains of WHOQOL (p<0.05). Conclusion: The number of teeth present, denture wearing and FTUs strongly affected GOHAI and general QOL. Dental caries, periodontal status and salivary flow rate also affected GOHAI and some domains of general QOL of elderly.

Oral Cancer Knowledge among a Sample of Elderly People in Depok City, West Java, Indonesia

“…The results of this study also agreed that there exists a need to provide the public with suitable educational materials related to the oral cancer issue [18]. The elderly population is considered to be a high-risk population in this regard, since they may have decreasing cognitive function, limited access to health information and health facilities, as well as low health literacy [24,25]. The involvement of healthcare workers and caregivers may therefore help in increasing the level of knowledge among the elderly [28][29][30].…”

“…However, it has previously been shown that people of an older age tend to have poorer knowledge about oral cancer [19]. The limited extent to which the elderly are exposed to public media and the internet as well as their lack of access to health facilities, relatively low quality of life, and low level of health literacy may have contributed to the results [19,24,25].…”

The influence of functional tooth units on body mass index in the elderly of the Jember Regency

“…The results of the studies showed that the number of FTUs positively affected the ability to masticate. 10,11 Similar research conducted by Shakina et al 13 and Adhiatman et al 14 states that there is no a significant relationship between tooth loss and nutritional status.…”

“…The influence of FTUs on BMI is supported by research conducted by Indrasari et al 10 that explains that FTUs are related to the ability to masticate -the higher the FTU value, the better the ability to masticate and vice versa. Good mastication is obtained when the minimum number of FTUs in the oral cavity is 7.5.…”

“…Chewing ability is also likely to affect general health -when the ability to masticate is reduced, the selection of food that is consumed is affected. 10 The ability to masticate is influenced by the number of teeth that come in contact with the antagonist. The pair of teeth that come into contact with the antagonist are called the functional tooth units (FTUs).…”