Relationships between Depression, Oral Dryness, and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among Elderly in Korea

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to analyze correlations between depression, cognitive function, oral health state, ability to perform activities of daily living, oral dryness symptoms, and oral health-related quality of life, and determine factors influencing the latter. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study based on questionnaires completed by 260 participants with suspected dementia, residing in South Korea. Psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, and dental hygienists visited clinics in the participating regions for examination and questionnaire administration. General characteristics, the geriatric depression scale, ability to perform activities of daily living, cognitive function, oral health state, and oral health-related quality of life were analyzed. Independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted, identifying factors affecting oral health-related quality of life. Data analysis was performed using SPSS ver. 20.0 (IBM Corp., USA), and the significance was set at p＜0.05. Results: Approximately 65.0% of participants were female, 63.5% were in their 70s, and 90.0% had health insurance. About 21.5%, 42.0%, and 36.5% were normal, slightly impaired, and had dementia, respectively. High cognitive impairment was associated with poor oral health. Sex, education levels, marital status, and living arrangements influenced oral health-related quality of life. According to the regression analysis, geriatric depression and oral dryness affected the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index scores. Conclusion: In conclusion, oral dryness and depression levels among elders influenced oral health-related quality of life. The results showed that to enhance elders' oral health-related quality of life, it is essential to not only improve their oral health state, but also relieve oral health problems, especially oral dryness, and take into consideration their psychological aspects.

Impact of oral health status on oral health related quality of life among institutionalzed elder in el gharbiay governorate

“…This con rms the ndings of So-Jung et al .,201932 and Rozas et al .,202033 who reported a signi cant increase in BOHSE score of the institutionalized elders.With the exception of lymph node, lips and salivary problems, the present study showed no statistically signi cant in uence of gender on oral health problems .This result is in accordance with I˙lhan et al,201434 and Motallebnejad et al,201535 who reported that there is no signi cant difference between males and females in relation to their oral health status .The result also come in line with Arya et al,2020 36 and Moussa et al, 202037 who found that Poor oral health status was common among both sexes equally .On the contrary, the results of the present study disagree with studies done byHopcraft et al,2012 38,39 and Janssens et al,201740,41 who reported that the male residents were associated with a higher proportion of dental/periodontal problems. While.…”

Impact of Oral Health Status on Oral Health– Related Quality of Life among Institutionalized Elders in EL-Gharbiya Governorate

“…These different ndings may be attributed to different sample size and mean age of the participants 24. This con rms the ndings of So-Jung et al .,201932 and Rozas et al .,202033 who reported a signi cant increase in BOHSE score of the institutionalized elders.With the exception of lymph node, lips and salivary problems, the present study showed no statistically signi cant in uence of gender on oral health problems .This result is in accordance with I˙lhan et al,201434 and Motallebnejad et al,201535 who reported that there is no signi cant difference between males and females in relation to their oral health status .The result also come in line with Arya et al,2020 36 and Moussa et al, 202037 who found that Poor oral health status was common among both sexes equally .On the contrary, the results of the present study disagree with studies done byHopcraft et al,2012 38,39 and Janssens et al,201740,41 who reported that the male residents were associated with a higher proportion of dental/periodontal problems. While.…”

Depression and oral health-related quality of life: A longitudinal study

“…Although this was a cross-sectional study, the Pearson correlation coefficient of the correlation with depression ( r = −0.560, p < 0.001) revealed a highly statistically significant outcome. Furthermore, another cross-sectional study involving participants with suspected dementia in Korea found that oral dryness and depression among older adults influenced oral health-related quality of life ( 10 ). A cross-sectional study using longitudinal data conducted in Germany by Hassel et al reported that oral health-related quality of life was significantly linked to wellbeing and depression in later life, assuming that subjective health could mediate this relationship ( 22 ).…”

“…In particular, South Korea (hereafter, Korea) reported that older individuals with poor oral health are more likely to experience depressive episodes ( 9 ). A cross-sectional study by Mun et al emphasized the impact of depression and oral dryness on oral health-related quality of life ( 10 ). Globally, depression is a major public health concern and a leading cause of adverse health outcomes.…”