Impacto de fatores psicossociais, clínicos e sociodemográficos na qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde bucal de idosos

Abstract

Elderly population is constantly growing worldwide; because of this, more attention has been given to their health and quality of life. Thus, researchs should be performed to evaluate the factors associated with the quality of life of these people because severity of diseases can change over time. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the effects of sociodemographic, psychosocial and clinical oral characteristics on the oral health–related quality of life (OHRQoL) of individuals inserted into a Social Center for the Elderly, in the city of Pelotas, Brazil. All of the elderly people were invited to participate of the study, from March to December of 2014. Individuals who agreed to participate, signed a written informed consent. Trained examiners assessed the participants’ oral health (dental caries; use of and need for dental prostheses) and conducted interviews. Data about sociodemographic characteristics were collected, as well as information related to anxiety, depression, happiness, sense of coherence and the impacts on OHRQoL, which were assessed using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to assess the differences between the evaluated factors and OHRQoL. Univariate and multivariate Poisson regression analyses were conducted to assess factors associated with the outcome OHRQoL. The OHIP-14 scores ranged from 0 to 56 with a 6.52 (SD 8.64) mean. The unadjusted Poisson regression assessments of the associations revealed that among older individuals, lower family income, having less than 12 teeth present and being classified with low/high anxiety and depression had higher impacts on OHRQoL. Also, a high sense of coherence was associated with lower perception of impacts (RR 0.34; 95% CI 0.21–0.54). After adjustments, quality of life was associated with sex (RR 3.60; 95% CI 1.27–10.20), family income (RR 1.55; 95% CI 1.00–2.40), age (RR 0.34; 95% CI 0.16–0.72) and sense of coherence (RR 0.37; 95% CI 0.22–0.62). Psychosocial characteristics, as well as sociodemographic and clinical oral health conditions have showed to influence individual perception about OHRQOL in elders enrolled in a Third Age Group, when evaluated with OHIP-14 questionnaire.