Oral health-related quality of life in patients infected with HIV, Iran: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background The life expectancy of patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has increased, but its oral manifestations can affect the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) of these patients. This study aimed to evaluate OHRQoL in HIV-infected patients and determine its related factors. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 250 HIV-infected patients were randomly selected from Shiraz Voluntary Counseling and Testing center in 2019. OHRQoL was measured using the revised Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index for HIV patients. The associations between patients’ OHRQoL and demographic characteristics were examined. Results The mean score of the patients' OHRQoL was 24.55 ± 6.27. The lowest and highest scores belonged to the psychosocial and pain categories, respectively. In the univariate analysis, the OHRQoL was significantly associated with patients' age (p = 0.012), duration of the disease (p = 0.009), job (p = 0.006), edentulous status (p = 0.003), and wearing denture (p < 0.001). However, in the multiple linear regression analysis, a significant difference was found only between denture wearing and non-denture wearing patients (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusions The OHRQoL of HIV-infected patients was not optimal since most of the patients were worried about their oral and dental health problems. The OHRQoL was significantly better in denture-wearing patients. This finding highlights the impact of unmet dental needs on OHRQoL in HIV-infected patients. Therefore, dental services coverage for patients with HIV is essential, so that they can have timely access to oral health care. Furthermore, dentures should be considered as an unmet healthcare need among HIV patients in public health policies.

Ageing People Living with HIV/AIDS, PLWHA; More Dental Challenges; the Romanian Dental Professional’s Point of View

“…The same situation was shown in a study from Iran in 2019 [ 36 ], which found that although the life expectancy of PLWHA has increased, oral manifestations can affect the oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of these patients. PLWHA were worried about their dental health problems.…”

“…In a univariate analysis, the OHRQoL was significantly associated with the patient’s age ( p = 0.012), duration of the disease ( p = 0.009), job ( p = 0.006), edentulous status ( p = 0.003), and whether or not they wore dentures ( p < 0.001). However, in a multiple linear regression analysis, a significant difference was found only between denture-wearing and non-denture-wearing patients ( p ≤ 0.001) [ 36 ].…”

Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among People Living with HIV and HIV-negative adults in Kigali, Rwanda: a comparative cross-sectional study

“…Those oral diseases negatively affect patients' OHRQoL and well-being. Oral conditions affect OHRQoL through interference with daily activities such as chewing, swallowing, speaking, sleeping, choosing what to eat, schooling social interaction, and more [3].…”

“…The World Health Organization (WHO) distinguishes the Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) concept as essential to general and oral health. Also, WHO recognizes oral health as a signi cant part of the Global Oral Health Program [3]. For years, the impact of oral diseases on quality of life was ignored, and more effort was put into evaluating oral diseases clinically [4].…”

“…Those oral diseases negatively affect patients' OHRQoL and well-being. Oral conditions affect OHRQoL through interference with daily activities such as chewing, swallowing, speaking, sleeping, choosing what to eat, schooling social interaction, and more [3].Poor oral health negatively affects the quality of life generally [4], and especially among people with other chronic diseases such HIV-infection [6]. For example, pain and discomfort caused by dental caries and periodontal diseases an interfere with nutritional intake among PLHIV and, therefore, can affect their immunity and general well-being [7].Assessing the health-related quality of life became integral to HIV/AIDS patients' follow-up [8].…”