Caspian Journal of Dental Research

Introduction: The quality of life is defined as the individual's sense of well-being and their satisfaction with daily work as influenced by dental and oral conditions. Oral diseases are very common and have impacts on the different aspects of individual's life and can change their social performances roles, in other words, they can change the quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluae the impact of oral problems on quality of life in adults who referred to Babol Faculty of Dentistry during 2009-2011.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed using a non-randomized sampling method. In this study, 500 patients who referred to Babol Faculty of Dentistry age 20-50 years were selected. Then all the questions in OIDP (Oral Impact on Daily Performance) questionnaire which were translated into persian from english were asked and completed. These questions are valuable and reliable for Iranians based on the previous studies. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software.

Results: According to this study, oral problems have effected on (80.6%) of the patients’ quality of life. Gender, occupation, level of education and general health have impacted on OIDP score changes. There were significant differences in gender, occupation and level of education. In this study, the general and oral health conditions scores showed a significant association with OIDP score. Most of the patients’ complaint was about eating (64.4%), but going outside and shopping were the least (10%).

Conclusions: According to the results of this study, tooth pain was the most oral and dental problem and tooth shape and size were the least effective on the oral health related quality of life. This shows that the most needed treatment are tooth restoration ، root canal therapy and surgical treatment for pain relief.

Introduction: As the oral health related quality of life has been important in many dental patients GOHAI is an acceptable tool, preparing its Persian version can be useful in oral health research among Persian populations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Persian version of General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI).

Methods: Translation was performed using the forward-backward process. The final Persian version was then tested through an interview and test-retest to evaluate its comprehensibility and reliability. A sample of 150 subjects (20-65 years old) was requested to answer the GOHAI items prior to a clinical examination.

Data on the subjects’ socio-demographic characteristics and self-rating report of oral health, general health and dental care needs were recorded. Internal consistency was calculated by Cronbach’s α. Interview and test-retest reliability was evaluated by weighted kappa. Concurrent validity was assessed by comparing GOHAI scores and self-rated measures of oral health, general health and perceived dental care needs. Discriminant validity was tested by comparing GOHAI scores with clinical oral condition.

Results: The mean GOHAI score was 46.78±7.85. Cronbach’s α (0.78) showed a high internal consistency and homogeneity between items. Weighted kappa coefficient for the interview varied from 0.60 to 0.96 and was between 0.33 and 0.64 for test-retest. Bland-Altman plot displayed a good agreement between the two GOHAI scores for both the interview and test-retest. There was no significant relationship between GOHAI scores and self-rating oral health (p=0.090), but there was a relationship between self-rating general health and mean GOHAI scores (p=0.047). Also, the low GOHAI scores were associated with the perceived dental care needs (p=0.001). There was an opposite correlation between GOHAI scores and caries and missing teeth (p<0.0001).

Conclusions: The Persian version of the GOHAI exhibits acceptable reliability and validity, so it can be used widely throughout the persian communities.