Determining the relationship among stress, xerostomia, salivary flow rate, and the quality of life of undergraduate dental students

OBJECTIVE: Xerostomia may result in several oral conditions, which ultimately affect oral health-related quality of life (OHRQOL). This study aims to evaluate the relationship of stress, xerostomia, salivary flow rate, and OHRQOL among young adults. METHOD: We invited 72 participants to complete three validated questionnaires including the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10), a shortened version of the Xerostomia Inventory (SXI), and the shortened Oral Health Impact Profile (S–OHIP). Unstimulated saliva was collected, and flow rate was determined. Based on the SXI scores and hyposalivation, the participants were categorised into four groups: subjective xerostomia, subjective and objective xerostomia, objective xerostomia, and true non-xerostomia. Based on the median PSS score, participants were categorised into high stress and low stress groups. Data were analysed using the Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis H test, and Spearman's correlation coefficient. A p value of 0.05 was set for all tests. RESULTS: A significant difference was observed in the unstimulated salivary flow rate (χ(2)(3) = 26.677, p < 0.001) and PSS scores (X(2)(3) = 8.552, p = 0.036) between xerostomia groups, while OHIP scores were not statistically different (X(2)(3) = 5.488, p = 0.139). A significant correlation was observed between SXI and S–OHIP scores (r = 0.348, p = 0.003) and unstimulated salivary flow rate and PSS (r = −0.259, p = 0.028). CONCLUSION: This study shows that perceived stress can influence salivary flow rate. Among the xerostomia groups, stress scores and salivary flow rates varied significantly. Additionally, subjective xerostomia has an impact on OHRQOL.