Objectives: To investigate the influences of dental treatment on change in oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) among older adults, an instrument to measure oral health impacts on daily living (OHIDL) and the change in the impact after dental treatment was developed and validated. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted among older adults aged 55+ years. Information on their perceived oral health impacts was collected through semi-structured interview. The dimensions of OHIDL and the relevant items were identified through thematic framework approach. The OHIDL measured oral health impacts with intensity and bother measurements and the change in oral health impacts was assessed through transition scale. OHIDL was administrated through face-to-face interviews to older adults who attended dental clinics for general dental treatments at baseline and 1-3 months after the treatment. Construct validity was assessed through convergent, divergent and factorial validity. Criterion and longitudinal validity were investigated through assessing the correlation between the measurements and the global questions. Reliability was assessed through Cronbach’s α and test-retest correlation respectively. The relationships between oral health problems, perceived oral health impacts, dental treatment received, and change in the impacts were explored. Linear regression model was used to investigate the treatment effect in changing OHQoL. Results: In the qualitative study, 22 women and 17 men were interviewed (mean age: 72 years). Twenty items were generated and classified into seven domains: Cleansing, Eating, Speaking, Appearance, Social, Psychological, and Health & Finance. In the quantitative study, 306 subjects (mean age: 70 years) completed the interviews at baseline. Three items with over 90% of the subjects reported no impact and two items with poor discriminant validity (100% scaling error) were eliminated. Both intensity and bother measurements demonstrated good construct and criterion validity with the intensity measurement showing better performance and was selected in the OHIDL to reduce the respondents’ burden. At the follow-up evaluation, 56 subjects without receiving any treatment were excluded and 176 subjects were re-interviewed after the dental treatment. The transition scale showed good longitudinal validity. The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the intensity and transition measurements were 0.88 and 0.87, respectively. The test-retest correlation for each item as measured by intensity and transition measurement ranged from 0.35 to 1.00 and 0.28 to 0.998, respectively. Compared to baseline, the mean number of oral health problems was significantly decreased from 4.80 to 2.73 (p < 0.05). Most of the subjects rated the overall perceived oral health impacts as improved (58%), the total transition score ranged from -11 to 39 with a mean value of 4.79 (SD = 8.02), which was over the threshold of MCID (3.3). Patients who perceived more oral health impacts at baseline and had received endodontic treatment had more improvement in the perceived oral health impacts. Conclusion: OHIDL is valid and reliable in measuring the oral health impacts on daily life and the change of the impacts after dental treatment. In this study, after receiving dental treatment, older adults perceived fewer oral health problems and positive change in the oral health impacts on daily living. / published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Master / Master of Dental Surgery

published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between oral health status and body mass index for residents in a Transitional Care Center. The population utilized in this study were 193 males and females between the ages of 16-98 years old who were admitted to the Transitional Care Center at Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Indiana. The researcher obtained informed consent from each participant upon admission to the subacute unit. The information used for this study was obtained from the Minimum Data Set located in each resident's medical record. Subjects were divided in two groups according to age, less than 75 years old and > 75 years old to determine whether age had an effect on oral health status and body mass index.The conclusion was that there was a difference between males and females. Women had a higher BMI than males for both age groups. Participants less than 75 years old were more likely to have a higher body mass index compared with subjects > 75 years of age. Seventy-four percent of those aged > 75 years old wore dentures or a removable bridge compared with 56% of younger subjects (< 75 years old).Although no statistically significant relationship was found between oral health status and body mass index, a trend was noted. As the number of oral health problems increased for individuals, body mass index decreased. The types and prevalence of specific oral health problems were reported indicating a need for further research into relationship between obesity, oral health, lifestyle factors, availability of dental care, and nutrient intakes for the elderly population. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Bibliography: leaves 249-260. / xvii, 260, [35] leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Systematically explores the relationship between medications, dry mouth and dental caries in a longitudinal study of older people. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Dentistry, 1999

published_or_final_version / abstract / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Master / Master of Dental Surgery