Oral Health and Oral Health‑Related Quality of Life among Elderly People in Iran

Abstract

Background: The study aimed to investigate oral health status and its relationship with oral health‑related quality of life in the elderly in Isfahan, Iran, in 2022. Materials and Methods: This cross‑sectional study was conducted in Isfahan, with 460 elderly participants. During interviews with the participants, their demographic information, their medical and dental history, oral health‑related behaviors, self‑perceived oral health, and clinical examinations were collected, and the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) was completed. The final conclusions were made using the Generalized Linear Model (GLM) test. Results: The mean (sd) scores were 45.05 (8.62) for GOHAI, 5.44 (2.96) for self‑perceived oral health, and 18.11 (5.76) for DMFT (Decayed, Missing and Filled teeth). Moreover, the number of remaining teeth on average was 11.78 (11.89), 39.56% of the participants did not brush their teeth, 40% of the elderly had complete dentures, and 27.17% had dental insurance. After adjusting and modifying the variables, the GLM test revealed that strong predictors for higher GOHAI scores were the higher levels of education (p ˂ .001), the higher frequency of remaining teeth (p = 0.002), more pleasant self‑perceived oral health (p ˂ .001), and dental insurance (p = 0.04). Conclusions: According to the findings, the elderly’s oral health‑related quality of life in Isfahan was low, which was caused by the following factors: edentulism, few numbers of remaining teeth, high DMFT score, elderly’ non‑adjustment with dentures and their low quality, inappropriate oral health‑related behaviors, lack of complementary insurance for dentistry, and non‑using dental services, and low levels of education.