December 2009

Volume 26, Issue 4

Quality of life in patients with dental conditions: comparing patients’ and providers’ evaluation

Authors: B Söderfeldt D Abeni B Axtelius V Johansson F Sampogna
doi: 10.1922/CDH_2304Sampogna05

Abstract

Objective. To measure the agreement between patients and their caregivers in evaluating patients’ oral quality of life. Basic research design. Cross-sectional study. Clinical setting. Data collected in four Swedish dental clinics in 2004. Participants. Consecutive patients. Data were completed for 444 patients. Fifteen dentists and 12 dental hygienists agreed to participate. Interventions. For each patient, the patient him/herself and his/her caregiver completed the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), a specific instrument used to measure quality of life in oral conditions, with higher scores indicating a worse quality of life. Information on personal and clinical characteristics of patients were also collected. Main outcome measures. Median OHIP-14 scores given by caregivers and patients were calculated and compared in different subgroups of patients. Cohen’s kappa was calculated to measure the agreement between the evaluation of patients and caregivers. Results. OHIP-14 scores median values were 3.0 among patients and 9.0 among caregivers. Caregivers always gave a higher score than patients, especially in older patients and patients with lower education. The concordance between patients’ and caregivers’ evaluation was very low (for different OHIP-14 cutoffs: Cohen’s kappa from 0.10 to 0.15). Conclusions. In this study, great discrepancies were observed between patients and caregivers in the evaluation of patients’ oral quality of life, with caregivers overestimating the burden of dental conditions on patients. It is important to improve patient-caregiver communication, in order to increase patient satisfaction and provide better care. A good patient-caregiver relationship is essential for the patients’ well-being and their adherence to treatment. Keywords: Communication, odontology, quality of life.

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Other articles in this issue

Article Pages Access
Editorial - Beyond water fluoridation; the emergence of functional foods for oral health 194-195 Download
Book Review 196-196 Download
Sense of coherence associates with oral and general health behaviours 197-203 Download
Evaluation of the direct and diffusion methods for the determination of fluoride content in table salt 204-210 Download
Fluoride toothpaste utilization behaviour among preschool children in Perlis, Malaysia 211-215 Download
Rural Mexican immigrant parents’ interpretation of children’s dental symptoms and decisions to seek treatment 216-221 Download
Assessment of HIV/AIDS awareness among 500 patients referred to the Ankara University Faculty of Dentistry 222-226 Download
Professional charges not reimbursed to dentists in the US: evidence from Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 1996. 227-233 Download
Quality of life in patients with dental conditions: comparing patients’ and providers’ evaluation 234-238 Download
Understanding politics? Some lessons from Swedish dentistry. 239-243 Download
Factors influencing the need for dental care amongst the elderly in the Republic of Ireland 244-249 Download
The periodontal health of Nepalese schoolchildren 250-256 Download

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