Oral Health-Related Quality Of Life of Pre-School Children: Review and Perspectives for New Instruments

Abstract

This study aimed to describe different approaches for the evaluation of the Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of preschool children and to discuss perspectives for future instruments. The OHRQoL is a concept that surpasses an exclusively clinical perception and includes functional, social, emotional, and environmental issues. The measure of OHRQoL represents a holistic approach for researchers and clinicians extending their visions beyond the mouth and understanding the entire context of the patient. Negative impacts of oral conditions on OHRQoL in childhood can reflect on health development, especially in a life stage marked by social and cognitive maturation. Instruments have been developed and cross-culturally adapted to evaluate the impact of oral conditions on the OHRQoL of preschool children and their families. Some features distinguish these instruments and influence their selection, such as: self- or proxy-report; generic- or specific-condition; long- or short-form, and less or more established used in literature. Moreover, theoretical framework, construct validation and availability should also be considered. Nine OHRQoL instruments for preschool children were included in the present literature review. They were created between 2003 and 2017 by developed countries in most cases. The shorter instrument has five items, and the larger has 31 items. Most of them are proxy-reported, generic-condition, and have been relatively well established in the literature. The diversity of instruments indicates the evolution of OHRQoL studies, but there are methodological issues still in need to be improved in future developments or cross-cultural adaptations, according to current psychometric evidence.

Family functioning and preschool children's oral health‐related quality of life

“…1,2 They provide a broader assessment than clinical measures, focusing on the individual not just the oral cavity. 2,3 As an overall assessment of child oral health, 4,5 OHRQoL measures are not only associated with clinical measures of oral disease but also with the different social, psychosocial and behavioural determinants of child oral health acting at contextual and individual level. [6][7][8][9] There is evidence that certain family attributes, such as living in a non-nuclear family, household overcrowding and presence of siblings, are associated with poorer child OHRQoL.…”

“…They provide a broader assessment than clinical measures, focusing on the individual not just the oral cavity 2,3 . As an overall assessment of child oral health, 4,5 OHRQoL measures are not only associated with clinical measures of oral disease but also with the different social, psychosocial and behavioural determinants of child oral health acting at contextual and individual level 6–9 7 …”

What Factors are Associated with Health-Related Quality of Life in Mixed Dentition Children?

“…On the other hand, the specific instruments are geared towards particular health conditions that can detect special situations, such as the impact of oral diseases on children and adolescent's quality of life [8][9][10]. Quality of life measures has been widely used as a patient-reported outcome to assess the impact of health conditions on children's daily lives, providing information about the broad consequences of oral health that normative clinical indicators cannot capture [10,11].…”

Principais instrumentos utilizados na avaliação de autoestima de crianças entre 4 e 6 anos: uma revisão sistemática

“…Oral Health-Related Quality Of Life Of Pre-School Children: Review and Perspectives For New Instruments Perazzo et al 2020. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil Revisão de literatura Fonte: Elaborada pelos autores do estudo (2022).…”