Impact of Oral Health in the Elderly Patients Quality of Life.
Over the last few decades, there have been several changes in the political, social and economic
scenarios in Brazil. The health of the elderly is increasingly awakening the interest of researchers, since aging of the population is now a reality both in developed and developing countries.
Oral health is among the factors that can exert influence on the QoL of the elderly people, since
poor oral health conditions result in difficulty in chewing, speaking, or even in the relationships
with other people.
The concept of QoL is related to self-esteem and personal well-being and covers aspects such as socio-economic status, lifestyle, cultural, ethnic and religious values, health, family support, self-care, intellectual, social interaction, emotional state, job satisfaction and activities of daily life and the environment in which we live. Thus, the concept of QoL is subjective
and depends on socio-economic status, age, and desires of each individual.
Measuring QoL is very subjective, because it is inherent to the individual, related to
their more personal characteristics, both in aspects of hereditary nature as those stuck for life.3-5
There are two ways to measure quality of life: generic tools and specific instruments.
Among the instruments that assess the impact of oral
health conditions on QoL of individuals, there is the oral health
impact profile (OHIP).6-11 OHIP-14 is a subjective indicator and
the most widely used to assess the impact caused by oral conditions and QoL.9,11 Considering that oral health might have a
negative impact on the QoL, the aim of this study is to evaluate
the influence of oral health conditions on QoL elderly patients.
Dent Open J. 2016; 3(1): 4-9. doi: 10.17140/DOJ-3-128
