Associations of self-reported oral health with physical and mental health in a nationally representative sample of HIV persons receiving medical care

Background: The impact of oral health on HIV patients has not been sufficiently documented. Objective: To estimate the associations between measures of oral and generic health-related quality of life in persons receiving medical care for HIV. Design: This is a longitudinal study of interview data collected in a probability sample of adults with HIV receiving health care in the US. The data were collected at three points in time. Patients: Two thousand eight hundred and sixty-four HIV-infected adults using medical care. Measurements: Physical and mental health were assessed using 28 items and oral health was assessed using seven items on oral-related pain and discomfort, worry, appearance, and function. Clinical measures included CD4 count, oral symptoms, physical symptoms, and stage of HIV. Physical functioning and emotional well-being were measured on a 0–100 scale with higher scores indicating better health. Oral health was measured using seven items with a five point scale. Results: In multivariate analyses, oral symptoms had the strongest association with oral health-related quality of life. Each additional oral symptom was associated with an average decrease in oral health (0–100 possible range) of 3.97 points (p = 0.000). In addition, oral health was significantly associated with both physical and mental health. A one-point increase in oral health was associated with a 0.05 (p = 0.000) increase in mental health and 0.02 increase in physical health (p = 0.031). Conclusions: Oral health is strongly associated with physical and mental health but provides noteworthy unique information in persons with HIV infection. Thus, physical and mental health measures of HIV patients should incorporate indicators of oral functioning and well-being.