Self-perceived Oral Health Status, Psychological Well-being, and Life Satisfaction in an Older Adult Population

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated that many older adults have problems chewing, pain, difficulties in eating, and problems in social relationships because of oral disorders. However, it is not clear if these functional and psychosocial outcomes affect broader psychological well-being and life satisfaction. Consequently, this paper begins to address the question, 'Does poor oral health compromise the quality of life?'. Initial cross-sectional analyses used data derived from the seven-year follow-up of the Ontario Study of the Oral Health of Older Adults. As at baseline and three-year follow-up, oral health was measured by self-ratings of oral health and five oral health indices. Psychological well-being and life satisfaction were assessed according to the Morale Index, the Perceived Life Stress Questionnaire, The Life Satisfaction Scale, and the General Health Questionnaire. All oral health variables were significantly associated with scores from the first three of these measures in the expected direction. These associations remained after we controlled for other potential influences on the quality of life. In addition, prospective analysis indicated that self-perceived oral health at three years had a significant independent effect on psychological well-being and life satisfaction at seven years. These results suggest that poor self-perceived oral health and relatively poor quality of life co-exist in the same subgroup of older adults.

Autopercepção da saúde bucal de idosos de um município de médio porte do Nordeste brasileiro

“…Investigações a respeito da autopercepção da qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde bucal têm sido desenvolvidas especialmente em paí-ses desenvolvidos como Estados Unidos 11,12,13 , Inglaterra 14 ; Austrália 15,16,17 e Canadá 18,19,20,21 . No Brasil, algumas investigações acerca do tema foram conduzidas, apesar disso existe ainda a necessidade de mais pesquisas para melhor compreensão dos fatores associados com a autopercepção da saúde bucal em nossa cultura 5,7,9,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32 .…”

Short-term quality of life change perceived by patients after transition to mandibular overdentures

“…Locker et al 11 defined OHRQoL measurement instruments as those that assess the proportion of oral diseases and disorders, which in turn affect the function and assessment of psychosocial well-being. The differences between the questionnaires designed for this purpose relate to the number of questions, the question content, the answer format, the grouping of topics in different domains, and the number of domains.…”

“…5,9 Aesthetics and functional aspects of conventional dentures also affect social behavior and self-confidence. 10 Locker et al 11 defined OHRQoL as "the extent to which oral disorders affect the functioning and psychosocial well-being. Currently, OHRQoL is considered an essential factor for assessment of the treatment success of implant-retained mandibular overdentures (IMO).…”

The Impact of Motivational Interviewing in Reducing Plaque and Bleeding Indices on Probing in Adult Users of the Family Health Strategy

“…Studies show that positive self-evaluation in positive oral health is considered an important predictor of a better psychological well-being, self-esteem and life satisfaction over time [27][28][29]. Similarly, self-efficacy is considered an important key element of motivation for health changes, and studies indicated that the higher the perceived self-efficacy, that is, the individual's feeling on trusting his/her abilities to take the necessary actions to improve and maintain health, the greater the level of perseverance and persistence to performed certain behavior or activity [30].…”