Personality and oral health-related quality of life. Results from an online survey

Abstract

Background To investigate the association between personality factors and oral health-related quality of life. Methods Data were taken from an online survey (representative for the general adult population in Germany in terms of region, sex and age group; n = 3,075) performed in late summer 2021. The well-established Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-G5) was used to measure oral health-related quality of life. Moreover, the established 10 Item Big Five Inventory (BFI-10) was used to quantify personality factors (in terms of agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience). Sex, age, family status, educational level, smoking status, alcohol consumption, sports activities, presence of chronic diseases and self-rated health were adjusted for in multiple linear regression analysis. Results Pearson correlations between oral health-related quality of life and personality factors ranged from r =- 0.17 (conscientiousness) to r = 0.17 (neuroticism). Regressions revealed that low oral health-related quality of life is associated with higher neuroticism (β = 0.39, p < 0.001) and lower conscientiousness (β=-0.51, p < 0.001). Conclusion This study revealed an association between personality factors (higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness) and low oral health-related quality of life. Before dental treatment, it may be helpful to measure personality traits of patients in order to predict the expectations of patients, as well as their responses to intended treatments. This may support the identification of the most appropriate method of treatment.

The Association Between Personality Traits and Health-Related Quality of Life and the Mediating Role of Smoking: Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

“…Furthermore, our research suggests that smoking mediates the relationship between Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism personality and HRQOL. High levels of Extraversion and Agreeableness are positively correlated with HRQOL, but they are also strongly associated with smoking, as these personality types are more likely to smoke due to a need for social interaction [59] . Smoking has a more significant correlation on HRQOL compared to the favorable correlation of high Extraversion and Agreeableness, thus smoking's mediation weakens this positive effect.…”