Dental health-related quality of life in patients in psychiatric long-term care facilities

Up to 970 million people in the world suffer from various mental illnesses. At the same time, comorbid pathology associated with disorders of somatic and dental health is often present. Patients have a reduced level of compliance, lack motivation to perform individual oral hygiene and regularly visit a dentist. Quality of life (QOL) can decrease due to diseases of hard tissues of teeth and periodontium. To the greatest extent, these problems are noted in patients who have lived in psychiatric long-term care facilities for a long time.

The purpose of the study: to assess the relationship between the state of dental health and QOL in patients with mental illnesses living in psychiatric long-term care facilities.

Materials and methods. The study included 135 male patients (the main group – OG), located in psychiatric long-term care facilities in Arkhangelsk. In accordance with the psychiatric diagnosis, all the examined subjects of the main group were divided into subgroups: with schizophrenia, mental retardation, dementia, organic personality disorder. The comparison group (CG) included 40 men without mental pathology. The dental examination consisted of determining the indices: caries intensity, oral hygiene, bleeding gums, loss of periodontal attachment, tooth mobility. The Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) questionnaire was used to assess oral health-related QOL.

Results. A weak inverse correlation was found between dental health-related  QOL and mental illness diagnosis (p= 0,002; r=-0,229). Moreover, a weak inverse correlation was found between the presence of mental illness (the trait was considered as a dichotomous variable) and the level of QOL (p = 0,007; r= -0,204).

Conclusion. The level of QOL, determined by the state of dental health, is associated with the presence of mental illness. It is important to note that with extremely high rates of prevalence and intensity of dental caries, periodontal diseases, patients with mental illnesses are not critical enough to self-assess the state of dental health and its impact on QOL.

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