Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) Bonn, Germany; Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Acta Odontol Scand. 2024 Oct 15;83:596-602. doi: 10.2340/aos.v83.42077.
The aims of this article are (1) to evaluate the association between oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and self-perceived job readiness and (2) to investigate changes in self-perceived job readiness following an oral health promotion intervention.
The first aim was elucidated in a cross-sectional design, and the second through a prospective intervention study. A survey was administered among 273 unemployed vulnerable people in Copenhagen, Denmark. Participants were randomised to either control or intervention in 2018, and follow-up was conducted 7-15 months later. The intervention entailed support for dental care. OHRQoL was measured by the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), and self-perceived job readiness was measured using the Employability Indicator Project (BIP) questionnaire.
The sample reported a high mean OHIP-14 score at baseline (26.9, SD 15.6) and poor OHRQoL was significantly associated with low self-perceived job readiness (rs = -0.15, p = 0.02). The control group reported better job readiness at follow-up compared to the intervention group. However, the effect sizes were small in both groups and no clear pattern was observed.
The results indicate that OHRQoL is linked to self-perceived job readiness. However, the oral health promotion applied in this study did not lead to better self-perceived job readiness. Further research is needed on the effect of oral health promotion interventions on job readiness within socially vulnerable groups.
本文旨在（1）评估口腔健康相关生活质量（OHRQoL）与自我感知就业准备之间的关联，以及（2）调查口腔健康促进干预后自我感知就业准备的变化。
第一项目的通过横断面设计阐明，第二项目的通过前瞻性干预研究阐明。在丹麦哥本哈根，对 273 名失业弱势人群进行了一项调查。参与者于 2018 年被随机分为对照组或干预组，7-15 个月后进行随访。干预包括对口腔保健的支持。OHRQoL 通过口腔健康影响简表（OHIP-14）进行测量，自我感知的就业准备通过就业能力指标项目（BIP）问卷进行测量。
该样本在基线时报告了较高的平均 OHIP-14 评分（26.9，SD 15.6），较差的 OHRQoL 与自我感知的就业准备较低显著相关（rs = -0.15，p = 0.02）。与干预组相比，对照组在随访时报告的就业准备更好。然而，两组的效应大小均较小，且未观察到明显的模式。
结果表明，OHRQoL 与自我感知的就业准备相关。然而，本研究中应用的口腔健康促进并未导致更好的自我感知就业准备。需要进一步研究口腔健康促进干预对社会弱势群体就业准备的影响。
