Oral-health-related Quality of Life in a Group of Children in Rural Uganda

Objectives: Describe the oral health related quality of life among a group of children in rural Uganda and identify clinical factors associated with poor oral health. Methods: Proportional sample of 174 12-year olds attending primary schools in a rural sub-county in Masaka district, Uganda. Clinical assessments using WHO basic methods and the Thylstrup and Fejerskov (TF) index of Fluorosis. Child Oral Health Related Quality of Life (CPQ) data collected with supervised self-administered questionnaire. Results: Mean DMFT was 0.68. No child had any fillings. Forty-one children had dental fluorosis with 10 having scores greater than 2. Mean number of sites with gingivitis was 2.6. Seventy-three children had calculus and 7 had signs of dental trauma. CPQ showed acceptable criterion validity and reliability. Two thirds of children reported a dental impact on their quality of life ‘often’ or ‘everyday’. The mean number of impacts per child at this threshold was 2.6 and the mean total CPQ score was 25.8 (sd 21.1). The number of sites with gingivitis or the presence of calculus or trauma were not associated with summary measures of CPQ whereas having any dental caries or dental treatment experience was associated with a higher total score and more impacts. Socially noticeable fluorosis (TF >2) was associated with more impacts but not with higher total scores. Conclusions: Despite low levels of oral disease these 12-year old children experienced appreciable impacts on oral health related quality of life. The greatest burden was associated with dental caries and to a lesser extent, fluorosis.