Association of Oral Health Related Quality of Life Factors Between 8-10 year-olds and their Caregivers in Bogotá, Colombia

Objective: To describe correlations between oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) factors between children 8-10 years old and their caregivers.

Methods: Linguistic validation (forward/backward translation) of the COHQoL questionnaire and a test-retest exercise were conducted. The questionnaires (49 items for caregivers and 29 for children) were self-administered in a sample of 104 child/caregivers pairs. Informed consent was obtained from all caregivers. Descriptive analyses were conducted and bivariate associations between quality of life factors from pairs were explored using Fishers Exact Test (p-value <0.05). The information was analyzed using SAS version 9.1.

Results: Twenty eight percent of caregivers reported that their child's wellbeing was affected by the condition of their teeth, compared to 33% reported by the children, who had a slightly more negative feeling. Around 12% of caregivers reported their child had missed school in the last 3 months because of his/her teeth and 42% reported they had taken time off work to attend their child's dental appointments. Significant associations were found between child/caregiver answers. In particular, more pain was experienced by the child as the caregiver reported a negative effect on the child's wellbeing (p-value 0.04). Also, as the caregiver reported a higher frequency in which their child was teased or called names by other children, the child reported he/she was bothered by other kids more often (p-value 0.02).

Conclusion: Proxy reports are a valuable instrument to provide a comprehensive picture of the child across settings, and the effects these may have on OHRQoL.