Cross-Sectional Study on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life Using OHIP-14 in Migrants Children in Melilla (Spain)

Abstract

Quality of life is a parameter that not only evaluates clinical parameters, but also refers to the perception of the individual in his or her sociocultural context. It also refers to psychosocial aspects that have a very important impact on people’s lives. Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) must also be considered when assessing oral health in any population for which an oral health program is to be developed. On this premise, and taking into account the precarious situation of refugee children housed in the Temporary Center for Migrants (CETI) in Melilla (Spain), a study was conducted to assess the oral health and OHRQoL of the children housed in the aforementioned facility. For this purpose, the 120 children in care at the time of the study underwent a basic epidemiological examination according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), and their OHRQoL was assessed using the specific OHIP-14 questionnaire. The results show a state of oral health with a high caries prevalence (95%), high DMFT, and dft indices for the studied population. The oral health-related quality of life perceived by these children shows that pain and psychological discomfort are the areas rated worst by them. Thus, it is concluded that it is important to implement specific oral health programs for this population, based on caries prevention and pain management, which must also take into account the psychological and sociocultural aspects that have accompanied their lives.

Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in a Paediatric Population in the Dominican Republic

“…Caries is the parameter that has the greatest impact on quality of life. As in other studies, malocclusions do not have such a great impact because there is no statistically significant association between COHIP 19 values and malocclusion [62][63][64][65][66][67].…”

“…Accordingly, the literature confirms that in children in whom a negative impact of oral health status on quality of life is found, the most frequently reported complaints are related to caries and to their developmental stage: pain, difficulty eating some foods and hot or cold drinks, sleep problems, irritability, and self-image problems when smiling [59,[65][66][67].…”