Oral health-related quality of life in elderly women participating in a coexistence group in southern Brazil: Oral health and quality of life in elderly women

The objective of this work was to evaluate the association between quality of life with the oral health in elderly women participating in a coexistence group in Southern Brazil. Study of the descriptive type, analytical, cross-sectional approach, with women aged 60 years or more, participants of a coexistence group in a city in Southern Brazil. Data collection used the instrument Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). The study had the participation of 64 elderly women aged between 60 and 88 years old with a mean of 69.8 ± 7.31 years. The areas that presented the highest values were “Physical Pain”, “Psychological Distress” and “Physical Disability”. The highest averages of the total scores of the OHIP-14 occurred in individuals with lower family income and low education, who showed signs of depression, changes in taste, difficulty to feel the taste of certain foods and malnutrition. Low education, change of taste and malnutrition by the arm circumference were associated with poor quality of life arising from oral disorders.

3 48 with less schooling, have the worst oral health conditions and face more 49 obstacles in the use of health services [2][3]. 50 The factors associated with the non-utilization of dental services are sex, 51 race/skin color, schooling, income, health insurance, lack of self-perception of 52 oral health and absence of teeth. These factors were also associated with not 53 going to dental consultations for more than 12 months, and other predisposing 54 characteristics, such as age, social networking, and feeding difficulties by oral 55 health problems [4]. 56 Therefore, the social interaction of the elderly and its influence on oral better quality of life [6]. These groups are characterized predominantly by 64 women, following a historic trend in different Brazilian cities, although it is also 65 open to male participation [7]. 66 In this sense, this study aims to assess the association between quality  The research was characterized as a study of the descriptive type, 73 analytical, with cross-sectional approach, involving female individuals aged 60 74 years or more, participants of a coexistence group in a city in Southern Brazil.  The dependent variable used in this study was the instrument Oral Health 82 Impact Profile -OHIP-14 -, which lists the aspects of quality of life most affected 83 by the oral health condition [8].

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The questionnaire consists of 14 questions, two for each one of the 85 seven dimensions of oral impact: functional limitation (difficulty in speech and in 86 the decreased sensitivity of taste); pain (sensation of pain and discomfort in the 87 act of eating); psychological distress (concern and stress that the oral condition 88 can cause); physical impairment (possible loss in food and the need to interrupt

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The questions relate to general oral health problems that people have 95 experienced in the past 12 months, with options for answers on a scale ranging 5 96 from zero (never) to four (always). As each domain has two subdomains, the 97 score ranges from zero to eight in each domain. The severity is measured by 98 the sum of all scores ranging from zero to 56, since the higher the score the 99 greater is the impact of oral disorders on quality of life.

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The independent variables used in this study were sociodemographic 101 variables (family income and schooling) and health conditions (presence of 102 depression, use of dental prosthesis, discomfort while using prosthesis, change 103 in taste, difficulty feeling the food taste and arm circumference).

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The data were analyzed using Stata 13.0, presented descriptively for

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Sixty-four elderly women participated in the study. The age ranged from 123 60 to 88 years, with an average of 69.8 ± 7.31 years. Table 1 Table 2 shows the mean values and the variation in the scores of the  There was statistically significant difference between the averages of the      had headaches that prevented them from performing common activities of daily 256 life [6].

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Thus, the activities offered by the groups helped the elders in this study 258 to acquire a healthier lifestyle and, consequently, improve their quality of life.

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Among the limitations of this research, its cross-sectional design stands