Tooth Loss, Sociodemographic Conditions and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in the Elderly

Objective: To verify the association between impacts produced by tooth loss and sociodemographic variables in the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in the elderly. Material and Methods: This is an analytical cross-sectional study carried out in the municipality of Vitoria/ES, Brazil, which sample was composed of 402 older adults. The Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) was used to measure the individuals' OHRQoL. For data analysis, descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed using the Fisher's exact test and the Mantel-Haenzsel test to assess the effects of combined dimensions. The significance level adopted was 5%. To assess the strength of association between independent variables and dimensions, Odds-Ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated. Results: The prevalence of negative impact on OHRQoL in the elderly was 32.6%. The greatest impact perception was found in individuals with up to 10 years of schooling (p=0.021 and OR=1.602), with need for removable partial dentures (p=0.000 and OR=2.873) and those who did not accept the loss of dental elements (p=0.000 and OR=3.064). Conclusion: Older female adults with socioeconomic class C/D-E, with up to 10 years of schooling, who lost 11 or more teeth, who declared the need for removable partial dentures, suffered greater impacts caused by tooth loss on OHRQoL.