Qualidade de vida e a autoperceção da saúde relacionada com a saúde oral: o caso particular de idosos institucionalizados

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) includes oral health (OH) in the global concept of health and considers it essential for the quality of life (QoL). Assessing the quality of life related to oral health (QofLROH) contributes to the effective measurement of needs. Objectives: To characterize the sociodemographic, clinical and behavioral variables of the sample. Analyze the relationship between these and the QofLROH. Methods: Quantitative, cross-sectional and correlational study. Structured interviews were conducted based on a sociodemographic questionnaire built for the purpose and in the translated and adapted version for the Portuguese population of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14-PT) to 151 elderly people from 9 Residential  Structures for the Elderly (RSfE). Results: Predominance of the female gender and widowers. The average age is 84.4 ± 6.4 years. Almost all respondents have a pathological history and take medication. Most of them have natural teeth (65.6%), but 31.8% of them never brush their teeth and mouth. The average OHIP-14-PT score is 18.22. The most scored items were the feeling of discomfort in the act of eating and the need to interrupt meals. There are statistically significant differences between the total OHIP-14-PT score and the literacy of respondents. Conclusion: The sample self-reported a moderate level of QofLROH. Edentulism and the absence of use of dental prosthesis predict worse QofLROH. There is a great difficulty in the elderly's access to oral health care.