Comparison of an individual systematic interview method and the oral health impact profile. Responsiveness and ability of describing treatment effect of oral rehabilitation.

The Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life - Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW) has shown potential for generating information and measuring Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) in oral rehabilitation. The Oral Health Impact Profile-49 (OHIP-49) has been widely used in population studies. The purpose of this study was to compare the responsiveness and ability of the SEIQoL-DW and the OHIP-49 to qualitatively describe the change following oral rehabilitation. Twenty-two participants treated with fixed or removable prosthesis were interviewed before and after treatment using the SEIQoL-DW and the OHIP-49 questionnaire. The participants rated the subjective perception of change and answered two global oral rating questions. A clinical examination was performed to identify dental status variables. No significant difference was found between pre- and post-treatment SEIQoL-DW scores. A significant difference between pre- and post-treatment OHIP-49 scores was found. The SEIQoL-DW and OHIP-49 change scores was significantly correlated. The dental status variables such as number of teeth, number of teeth replaced, number of occluding units, type of treatment, extractions and removable dental prosthesis (RDP) before treatment did not influence the change scores. The effect size was low for the SEIQoL-DW (0.15) and moderate for the OHIP-49 (0.60). Improvement in subjective perception of change was related to both improvement and deterioration in change scores. More aspects were mentioned in the SEIQoL-DW compared to the OHIP-49. Based on the change in overall score and effect size, the SEIQoL-DW showed a weaker responsiveness than the OHIP-49. The SEIQoL-DW, however, described the change more detailed than the OHIP-49.