Impact of Oral Health on the Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) among Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities in Chennai, India: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: The risk of developing oral diseases is higher among individuals with disabilities compared to those who do not have any form of impairment or disability. Dental caries and periodontal diseases are the two most prevalent diseases among the individuals with disabilities worldwide and dental treatment is considered as the greatest unattended health need and oral diseases can have varying impacts on well-being and life quality of people.

Aim: To assess the impact of oral health on the Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) of patients with intellectual disabilities in Chennai, India.

Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional school-based study which was conducted in the Department of Public Health Dentistry, Tagore Dental College and Hospital, Chennai,Tamil Nadu, India, from August 2021 to September 2021. Study was conducted among the parents of 12-25-year-old intellectually disabled individuals studying in special schools in Chennai, India. The estimated sample size was 122 with 95% of power and effect size of 0.3. OHRQoL of the participants with intellectual disabilities was assessed using the short-form versions of the Parental-Caregivers Perceptions Questionnaire (P-CPQ) and impact of Oral health on the family life of participants with intellectual disabilities using Family Impact Scale (FIS). Clinical examination of oral health status was assessed using self-designed proforma based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) basic oral health survey 2013. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 24.0.

Results: The number of participants between 12-18 years was 111 (91%) and 19-25 years was 11 (9%) and 68 (55.7%) were males and 54 (44.3%) were females. The results showed that most of the parents 83 (68.03%) were concerned about their child’s bad breath with regard to P-CPQ and with regard to the FIS highest mean was recorded for child needs more attention from them (2.93±0.89) and sleep disturbances (2.80±0.49) among parents. Most (n=52, 42.6%) of them had decayed teeth compared to filled (n=14, 11.5%) and missing teeth (n=17, 13.9%). Majority (n=83, 68.1%) of the participant had fair oral hygiene. There was a positive correlation of oral symptoms and social well-being with the dentition status, Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S) and gingival index.

Conclusion: A positive correlation was recorded between the oral symptoms of P-CPQ with the oral health status of the study population with stronger correlation recorded for oral hygiene. With regard to functional limitation there was a negative correlation with gingival index and for emotional well-being there was a negative correlation with dentition status and gingival index.