Open AccessPoor Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Pre- and Post-Liver Transplantation Patients
Author(s) -
Larissa Souza Santos-Lins,
Inácio Aguiar,
Liana Codés,
Maria Auxiliadora Evangelista,
Alessandra De Castro,
Paulo Lisboa Bittencourt,
A. Cavalcanti,
Raymundo Paraná,
Liliane Lins-Kusterer
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the open dentistry journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.428
H-Index - 25
ISSN - 1874-2106
DOI - 10.2174/1874210602115010196
Subject(s) - medicine , quality of life (healthcare) , liver transplantation , oral health , liver disease , chronic liver disease , cross sectional study , disease , transplantation , gastroenterology , gerontology , dentistry , pathology , cirrhosis , nursing
Background: Oral health is associated with Chronic Liver Disease (CLD) and may play a relevant role in oral (OHRQoL) and general health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among people with chronic liver disease (CLD). Objective: To explore the correlations between OHRQoL and HRQoL in pre- and post-liver transplantation (LT) patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 189 patients: 63 per group (pre-LT, post-LT, and without liver disease). The Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14), the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, and the Work Ability Index (WAI) were used to measure oral health-related quality of life, health-related quality of life, and work ability, respectively. Oral health was evaluated according to the World Health Organization criteria. The relationship between the OHIP-14 and independent variables was analysed by multiple linear regression. Results: Pre-LT group presented the highest OHIP-14 total mean score, followed by the post-LT group, compared to the group without liver disease (p=0.001). All HRQoL and WAI mean scores were lower in the pre-LT group than in the other groups (p≤0.013). In the pre-LT group, the OHIP-14 total mean score was negatively correlated with the Mental Health, Physical Functioning, and General Health mean scores (p=0.01) and negatively and significantly (p<0.05) associated with decayed teeth and with poor workability. In the post-TL group, OHRQOL of life was associated with decayed and missing teeth, lower educational level, and poor workability. Conclusion: Patients in the pre- and post-LT groups presented poorer OHRQoL compared to patients without liver disease. OHRQoL was strongly correlated with HRQoL in the pre-LT group.