Oral health impact on quality of life in an adult Swedish population

• Objectives: Quality of life is an  expression with many meanings  and it creates positive associations  for most people. Oral health has a major impact on general quality of life. The aim of this study was to describe  oral health-related quality of life measured with Oral Health Impact  profile with 14 questions (OHIP-14)  in an Swedish adult population. Methods: This is an epidemiological study and it comprised a stratified random sample of 260 men and 259 women, 20-80 years of age. The OHIP-14 questionnaire was used. Results: Twenty-one percent of the respondents stated that they had no oral problems that were negative related to their well-being, and 79% had some form of problem related to quality  of life. The mean value for the entire population was 6.4 (SD=7.1). Of the individuals who stated that they had oral problems, the majority were among women aged 20-yearsInternal reliability of the OHIP scale showed good internal consistency with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.90. Conclusions: In this Swedish population, a number of individuals, young and old, experienced oral problems that had a negative impact on their well-being.

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