Helmi Mohammad
Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Front Oral Health. 2025 May 27;6:1586868. doi: 10.3389/froh.2025.1586868. eCollection 2025.
This study evaluates the impact of oral health issues on critical areas of daily functioning, including job performance, psychological well-being, self-rated oral health, and dietary habits.
Utilizing NHANES data, the analysis applies Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and data visualization techniques (scatter plots, heatmaps, and box plots) to quantify associations between oral health variables, such as mouth aching (OHQ620), food avoidance (OHQ660), job difficulty due to mouth issues (OHQ640), and embarrassment (OHQ680).
Strong correlations were found between mouth aching and job difficulty due to mouth issues, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.99, and between difficulty eating (OHQ670) and job difficulty due to mouth issues, with a coefficient of 0.98. Psychological impacts were also notable; feeling bad about one's mouth (OHQ630) had a high correlation with embarrassment (0.99), while mouth aching had a weaker association (0.88). Self-rated oral health (OHQ845) showed a negative correlation with both mouth aching (-0.83) and feeling bad about one's mouth (-0.83), indicating decreased self-assessment of oral health as symptoms increase. Multiple regression revealed that difficulty eating had a substantial positive coefficient (1.19) for food avoidance, while mouth aching had a minor negative effect (-0.13). Smoking exposure was positively associated with oral health issues, particularly with mouth aching and embarrassment.
The findings highlight significant impacts of oral health issues on job performance, psychological well-being, and lifestyle, suggesting the need for integrated oral healthcare strategies that address both physical discomfort and emotional consequences.
Enhanced oral health interventions focusing on symptom management and psychological support could reduce nutrition barriers, improve occupational functioning, and increase quality of life.
本研究评估口腔健康问题对日常功能关键领域的影响，包括工作表现、心理健康、自评口腔健康和饮食习惯。
利用美国国家健康与营养检查调查（NHANES）数据，分析采用皮尔逊相关性分析、多元回归分析和数据可视化技术（散点图、热图和箱线图），以量化口腔健康变量之间的关联，如口腔疼痛（OHQ620）、食物回避（OHQ660）、因口腔问题导致的工作困难（OHQ640）和尴尬（OHQ680）。
发现口腔疼痛与因口腔问题导致的工作困难之间存在强相关性，皮尔逊相关系数为0.99；进食困难（OHQ670）与因口腔问题导致的工作困难之间也存在强相关性，系数为0.98。心理影响也很显著；对自己口腔感觉不好（OHQ630）与尴尬之间存在高度相关性（0.99），而口腔疼痛的相关性较弱（0.88）。自评口腔健康（OHQ845）与口腔疼痛（-0.83）和对自己口腔感觉不好（-0.83）均呈负相关，表明随着症状增加，口腔健康的自我评估下降。多元回归分析显示，进食困难对食物回避有显著的正系数（1.19），而口腔疼痛有较小的负效应（-0.13）。吸烟暴露与口腔健康问题呈正相关，尤其是与口腔疼痛和尴尬。
研究结果突出了口腔健康问题对工作表现、心理健康和生活方式的重大影响，表明需要综合口腔保健策略来解决身体不适和情感后果。
加强以症状管理和心理支持为重点的口腔健康干预措施，可以减少营养障碍，改善职业功能，提高生活质量。
