In recent years, a number of instruments have been developed to assess the impact of dental treatment on patient's quality of life. While some studies have used both generic and disease-specific measures, few have investigated the relationship between them. Objective: This study aimed to assess the correlations between quality of life scores of EuroQol, Dental Impact Profile (DIP) and a visual analogue scale (VAS). Methods: A 3-stage postal survey design was applied. A piloted, structured questionnaire using DIP (Strauss and Hunt, 1993), EuroQol (Brooks, 1996) and VAS was mailed to patients who had treatment with dental implants, conventional dentures and bridgework. Overall EuroQol and DIP scores were computed. Results: Of 452 questionnaires sent out, a response rate of 69% (n=285) was achieved. The mean age of the survey sample was 55 years, with 45% male. Overall there was a positive and highly significant correlation between the scores (p<0.001). Association between the two generic measures (VAS & EuroQol) was the highest (r=0.67; p<0.001). Correlation coefficients between EuroQol & DIP and VAS & DIP were 0.25 (p<0.25) and 0.33 (p<0.001) respectively. The quality of life scores were also found to be highly correlated with self perceived oral conditions (p<0.001). Conclusions: There was considerable agreement between generic and disease-specific measures in this sample. EuroQol was considered a useful and valid generic instrument in the assessment of quality of life among patients with dental implants, conventional dentures and bridgework.
Funded by NHS R&D Northern & Yorkshire, UK and Nobel Biocare UK.