Oral health is essential for quality of life in older adults: A Swedish National Quality Register Study

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between QoL and oral health from two Swedish national quality registries (NQRs). BACKGROUND Oral health plays an important part in general health, which might also affect QoL. No studies have examined the relationships between QoL and oral health in late adulthood based on aggregated data from Swedish NQRs. MATERIAL AND METHODS Four NQRs incorporated the EQ-5D, which assesses 5 aspects of QoL: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression. Items from the Revised Oral Assessment Guide, obtained from the NQR Senior Alert, were used to identify older adults at risk for oral health issues. RESULTS A total of 510 individuals had data on all relevant variables. Analyses indicated significantly higher QoL for individuals without risk of oral health problems (M = -0.15 (SD = 1.01)), compared to those with risk (M = -0.75 (SD = 1.52)). Logistic regression analysis showed that lower QoL (OR = 0.69 (0.49, 0.97)), mental status (OR = 0.37 (0.19, 0.71)), lower self-rated health (OR = 0.59 (0.42, 0.85)) and higher age (OR = 1.07 (1.01, 1.13)) were significantly related to risk of oral health problems. Higher BMI (OR = 1.13 (0.99, 1.30)), living alone (OR = 2.37 (0.93, 6.06)) and more years of education (OR = 1.15 (1.01, 1.31)) were associated with higher risk of oral health problems. CONCLUSIONS Oral health is a significant component of quality of life in late adulthood. NQRs are of value for healthy ageing research in populations that may be underrepresented in research studies.