Oral Health-Related Quality of Life, A Proxy of Poor Outcomes in Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis

INTRODUCTION: We sought to evaluate the associations of poor oral health hygiene with clinical outcomes in patients receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD). METHODS: As part of the multinational Peritoneal Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (PDOPPS), PD patients from 22 participating PD centers throughout Thailand were enrolled from May 2016 to December 2019. The data were obtained from questionnaires that formed part of the PDOPPS. Oral health-related quality of life (HRQoL) used in this study was the short form of the oral health impact profile (oral health impact profile [OHIP]-14, including 7 facets and 14 items). Patient outcomes were assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Cox proportional hazards model regression was used to estimate associations between oral HRQoL and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Of 5090 PD participants, 675 were randomly selected, provided informed consent, and completely responded to the OHIP-14 questionnaire. The median follow-up time of the study was 3.5 (interquartile range = 2.7–5.1 months) years. Poor oral health was associated with lower educational levels, diabetes, older age, marriage, and worse nutritional indicators (including lower time-averaged serum albumin and phosphate concentrations). After adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, serum albumin, shared frailty by study sites, and PD vintage, poor oral health was associated with increased risks of peritonitis (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.45, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06–2.00) and all-cause mortality (adjusted HR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.04–2.32) but not hemodialysis (HD) transfer (adjusted HR = 1.89, 95% CI: 0.87–4.10) compared to participants with good oral health. CONCLUSION: Poor oral health status was present in one-fourth of PD patients and was independently associated with a higher risk of peritonitis and death.