Benjamin W. Chaffee|Priscila Humbert Rodrigues|Paulo Floriani Kramer|Márcia Regina Vítolo|Carlos Alberto Feldens
Oral health?related quality?of?life scores differ by socioeconomic status and caries experience
University of California, San Francisco|Universidade Luterana do Brasil|Universidade Luterana do Brasil|Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre|Universidade Luterana do Brasil
abstract objectives quantify relative association child dental caries experience maternalreported child oral healthrelated quality life ohrq ol ii examine whether association differed according family socioeconomic status ses iii explore whether absolute ohrq ol varied family ses similar levels child caries experience methods study crosssectional analysis children southern brazil n456 mean age 38 months participating existing health centrebased intervention study ohrq ol impact quantified mean score brazilian early childhood oral health impact scale ecohis compared categories caries experience dmft 0 dmft 14 dmft 5 adjusted ecohis ratios caries categories calculated using regression modelling overall within socioeconomic strata defined maternal education social class household income results caries prevalence dmft gt0 397 mean ecohis score 20 sd 35 443 mothers reported ohrq ol impact ecohis score gt0 increasing child caries experience associated worsening child family quality life ecohis scores 30 times greater 95 ci 20 44 children dmft 5 vs dmft0 pattern persisted regardless family socioeconomic status p interaction gt03 however adjusted dental status sociodemographic characteristics mean ecohis scores lower reported mothers less educational attainment ratio 07 95 ci 05 10 lower social class ratio 07 95 ci 05 10 lower income households ratio 08 95 ci 06 13 conclusion dental caries associated negative child family experiences lower ohrq ol across social groups yet families facing greater disadvantage may report lesser qualityoflife impact level disease experience thus subjective qualityoflife measures may differ varying social contexts possible implications service utilization evaluating oral health interventions quantifying disease morbidity low ses groups