A study of the impact of oral health on the quality of life of older people in the UK--findings from a national survey.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to was to determine whether older adults perceive oral health as affecting their life quality and to identify variations in impacts in relation to socio-demographic factors, dental service utilisation and method of payment.

DESIGN

This study formed part of the Office for National Statistics Omnibus Survey, which utilised a random probability sample of addresses from the British Postcode Address File (PAF).

SETTING

3,000 homes were selected from one hundred post sectors across Britain. Respondents were interviewed in their homes about how oral health affects their quality of life. Subjects 454 older people (aged 65 and over) took part in the survey.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The study group perceived oral health as impacting on their quality of life in general (negative and/or positive impact) (70%, 318), enhancing (53%, 241) and detracting (44%, 199) from their life quality. The most frequently perceived way in which oral health affects life quality was its effect on eating and comfort. Older people from higher socio-economic groups reported that oral health had a greater impact on their quality of life in general (positive and/or negative impacts), (OR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.22,2.78) and specifically, enhancing their quality of life (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.01,2.30). Those who reported attending the dentist within the last year perceived that their oral health enhanced their life quality (OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.01,2.38).

CONCLUSIONS

Socio-economic background and dental attendance pattern are associated with how older people perceived oral health as affecting quality of life. These findings may have implications for promoting regular dental attendance and auditing dental services for older people.