Prosthetic Rehabilitation–Quality of Life in Psychiatric Adults

Objectives: Social impact assessment and the inclusion of functional rehabilitation generate behaviours that promote a better quality of life. The aim of the study was to describe the epidemiological profile and impact of perceived oral health on the quality of life of psychiatric adults undergoing deinstitutionalization, ex post prosthetic rehabilitation.
Methods: The study was conducted in psychiatric institutions in the Buenos Aires Province Argentina running assisted discharge programmes (N = 215). A random sample of adults of both sexes was drawn. The study consisted of two phases (PI and PII); PI baseline assessment n1 = 79 individuals, median age (IQR) 49 (14.5); PII: n2 = 51 adults in need of prosthetic rehabilitation, median age (IQR) 52 (11.5). The intervention carried out was a rehabilitation based on removable partial and complete dentures. Endogenous observable variables (oral health and impact of perceived oral health) were estimated by means of DMFT and OHIP-14 scores. Ex ante and 6-month post-intervention assessments were conducted.
Results: Mean (SD) for permanence in programmes: n1 = 6.66 (4.65), n2 = 6.90 (5.17). Mean (SD) DMFT: n1 = 17.11 (7.50), male = 16.87 (7.23) female = 17.47 (7.98) P = 0.736; n2 = 19.71 (5.54) female = 21.59 (5.32), male 18.28 (5.36); P= 0.03 between sexes. M component: n1 = 13.91 and n2 = 17.12. Sixty four point six percent (64.56%) of psychiatric adults need prosthetic rehabilitation. OHIP-14 scores: n1 median (IQR) = 23 (14); n2 pre-intervention = 23 (6) and post = 6 (5); difference between sexes: n1 P = 0.55, n2 pre P = 0.14, n2 post P = 0.07. Pre/post-intervention assessment was significant (P = 0.01).
Conclusions: The sample data allow the inference of a vulnerable oral health condition and that the prosthetic rehabilitation conducted improved individual perception, impacting on the quality of life.