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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Sharron E. Rich, MPH¹, Avron Spiro III, PhD², Noelle L. Huntington, PhD³, Dante Spetter, PhD⁴, Joan L. Bohlke, MA¹, Wanda G. Wright, RN, DDS, MS⁵, Janis E. Johnson, BA⁵, Ludmila Reátegui-Sharpe, MPH¹, and Judith A. Jones, DDS, MPH, DSc⁶. (1) Health Policy and Health Services Research, School of Dental Medicine, Boston University, 715 Albany St., 560, 3rd floor, Boston, MA 02118, 617-414-1232, sharronr@bu.edu, (2) MAVERIC, VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Ave (151 MAV), Boston, MA 02130, (3) Division of General Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Boston, 1 Autumn St. #460, Boston, MA 02115, (4) Harvard University Division of Continuing Education, 51 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA 02138, (5) Health Policy and Health Services Research, School of Dental Medicine, Boston University, 715 Albany St., 560, 3rd floor, Boston, MA 02118, (6) General Dentistry, Boston University, 100 East Newton St, room 612, Boston, MA 02118

BACKGROUND: A cross-sectional study is being conducted to develop a Pediatric Oral Quality of Life (POQOL) questionnaire. Children in various age groups were asked a series of questions about the impact of oral conditions on their daily lives. METHODS: Children in grades 4 through 8 were tested in classrooms and asked a series of questions about their oral quality of life and dental care history. Surveys were obtained from 157 4th and 5th graders and 664 middle school students. Twenty items assessing 5 domains (pain & eating, role, emotional, psycho-social, and physical functioning ) were administered. Each item had 3 parts: how often did the event occur, how bothered were you by it, and why did it occur. An impact score was calculated – if they had the problem weighted by how much this bothered them – for each item, for each domain, and total score. We then examined these scores in relation to self-reported oral health and to time and reason of last dental visit. RESULTS: All impact scores for total and the 5 domains were higher for children who had not seen a dentist for more than 5 years or never; for those whose self-reported oral health was fair or poor; and for those whose oral health compared to 1 year ago was somewhat or much worse. CONCLUSION: Regular dental care is associated with better oral quality of life. Supported by NIH/NIDCR, Grants #U54-DE14264 and #K24-DE00419

Learning Objectives:

• Determine the impact on quality of life of oral health problems in children.
• Identify the quality of life items that most impact the lives of children.
• Demonstrate that regular dental care leads to better oral health quality of life.

Keywords: Oral Health, Quality of Life

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered