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Clinical status in adolescents: is its impact on oral health‐related quality of life influenced by psychological characteristics?
Author(s) -
Foster Page Lyndie A.,
Thomson W. Murray,
Ukra Ali,
Baker Sarah R.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
european journal of oral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.802
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1600-0722
pISSN - 0909-8836
DOI - 10.1111/eos.12034
Subject(s) - oral health , quality of life (healthcare) , psychology , psychological health , clinical psychology , medicine , environmental health , gerontology , dentistry , psychotherapist
The objective of this study was to examine, using structural equation modelling, the relationships among clinical characteristics (such as caries experience and malocclusion), oral health‐related quality of life ( OHRQ oL), and psychological characteristics (mental health, self‐esteem, somatisation, and social perception of body image) in adolescents in N ew Z ealand. Adolescents were examined for malocclusion using the D ental A esthetic I ndex ( DAI ) and for dental caries. Among the 353 (58.8%) 12‐ and 13‐yr‐old adolescents who took part in this cross‐sectional study, the overall mean ± SD decayed, missing, or filled surfaces ( DMFS ) value was 1.6 ± 3.0, with slightly more than 50% of being caries‐free; the mean ± SD DAI was 31.5 ± 7.6, with one‐quarter of subjects having a ‘handicapping’ malocclusion. The structural equation modelling analysis showed that the structural model was a good fit to the data. As hypothesized, the DAI score significantly predicted OHRQ oL. There was no direct relationship between caries experience ( DMFS ) and OHRQ oL, but there was an indirect effect of DMFS on OHRQ oL mediated through psychological characteristics. The amount of OHRQ oL variance accounted for in the model was substantial, at 62%. It appears that investigating OHRQ oL in adolescents is not straightforward; while malocclusion directly affects OHRQ oL, the influence of dental caries experience is less direct.