Longitudinal impact of clinical and socioenvironmental variables on oral health-related quality of life in adolescents

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of oral diseases, socioeconomic status, and family environmental factors on changes in the perception of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in adolescents. A prospective cohort study was conducted in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with a sample of 286 twelve-year-old adolescents from public and private schools, selected by means of multistage random sampling. The adolescents were clinically examined for dental caries experience (number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth -DMFT index), presence of bleeding, and orthodontic treatment needs. They were asked to complete the Brazilian version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire ). In addition, parents answered a questionnaire about their socioeconomic status and family environmental characteristics. After 3 years, the adolescents were contacted again to participate in the research. Logistic regression models, with explanatory variables assessed both individually and jointly, were used to determine which independent variables impacted longitudinally on OHRQoL. The final result demonstrated that only DMFT explained part of the response variability in CPQ 11-14 scores. In conclusion, caries experience was an important predictor of OHRQoL in adolescents followed up for 3 years.

Pathways of socioeconomic inequalities in gingival bleeding among adolescents

“…However, there were no statistical differences between the participants and dropouts, and previous studies have reported higher nonresponse rates among adolescents. 40,41 In addition, dropouts were equally distributed among all enrolled schools, thus providing representativeness and a form of comprehension on oral health inequalities in adolescence. Our study only included adolescents who were enrolled in public schools.…”

Dental treatment improves the oral health‐related quality of life of adolescents: A mixed‐methods approach

“…Participants were enrolled consecutively (May of 2016 to December of 2016), and they were interviewed 30 days following the end of the dental treatment 29 and after they had answered the final Children Perception Questionnaire (CPQ [11][12][13][14]. All interviews were carried out in a comfortable non-clinical office setting next to the waiting area of the dental clinic.…”

“…10 Several studies, however, have demonstrated that Brazilian adolescents have a high dental treatment needs 11 and tend to report relative poor oral health and a low OHRQoL in terms of oral symptoms, functional limitations, and emotional and social well-being. [12][13][14][15] Hence, there is scarce information on how dental treatment could help to improve the adolescents' OHRQoL, [16][17][18][19] and on how adolescents experience quality of life. [20][21][22] The use of a qualitative approach into the evaluation of health perceptions may unravel the extent to which social and emotional aspects are being adequately described and understood by the quantitative instruments.…”

“…of Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ [11][12][13][14] validated to Brazilian Portuguese by Torres and colleagues. [25][26][27] The feasibility of the questionnaire was verified by repeating the application in 10% of the sample, and the responsiveness of this questionnaire already has been evaluated.…”

“…28 This questionnaire was answered by adolescents prior to their dental treatment and 1 month 29 after the completion of the treatment, when the adolescents were booked for a recall examination. The CPQ [11][12][13][14] was administered by four trained examiners in the waiting area of the dental clinic. The training of the quantitative interviewers was carried out by two researchers and consisted of theoretical classes about OHRQoL and a practical training with a sub-sample of ten patients.…”