The impact of poor oral health on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in older adults: the oral health status through a latent class analysis

BACKGROUND: Determine the impact of poor oral health on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of community-dwelling older adults in Mexico City. Sociodemographic characteristics were obtained and assessed their OHRQoL according to the Geriatric/General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI). Clinical evaluation of their oral health: painful chewing, use of dentures, dry mouth, xerostomia, plaque, calculus, coronal and root caries, tooth loss and gingival bleeding. Finally, we determined the oral health of participants through Latent Class Analysis (LCA), excluding totally edentulous. The strength of association was determined (Odds Ratio [OR] and 95% confidence interval [95% CI]) through logical regression between the oral health categories (latent classes) and OHRoL in older adults, adjusted with the other variables included in the study: age, sex, marital status, living arrangements (lives alone), educational level, paid work status, comorbidity, cognitive deterioration, depression and use of medical and dental services in the previous 12 months. RESULTS: The mean (SD) GOHAI score for the 228 older adults to 46.5 (8.7), number of classes to characterize oral health through LCA was three (entropy 0.805). The GOHAI mean for Class 3 (57.0%), acceptable oral health was 50.1 (7.1); totally edentulous (9.6%), 47.9 (8.4); for Class 2 (16.7%), regular oral health, 43.8 (9.3); and for Class 1 (16.7%), poor oral health, 42.2 (9.7). Significant differences were observed among means (p < .001). Using Class 3 an as a reference, the strength of association between the GOHAI scores and low OHRQoL (GOHAI 25th percentile = 24.0) was OR = 0.7, 95% CI = 0.2–3.3 for totally edentulous; OR = 3.0, 95% CI = 1.2–7.6 for Class 2 and OR = 5.0, 95% CI = 2.1–12.1 for Class 1. CONCLUSION: Poor oral health was associated with a negative impact on the OHRQoL of community-dwelling older adults. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: It is essential to design and implement oral health care policies specifically targeted at improving the quality of life in this older adult population.