Severe Periodontitis and OHRQoL Measured by the OHIP-14

Objectives: Severe periodontitis may greatly reduce oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). The oral health impact profile (OHIP) is one of eight major measures for OHRQoL. In this cross-sectional study, we aim to assess the association of severe periodontitis with OHRQoL as measured by the OHIP-14.
Methods: We recruited 280 patients over the age of 35 (mean = 55.4±11.8 years) at a university clinic. They were submitted to a full-mouth periodontal examination, and then divided into three groups according to periodontal condition per the CDC/AAP criteria,: periodontal health/mild periodontitis (NO/MILD, n = 47), moderate periodontitis (MOD, n = 117), and severe periodontitis (SEV, n = 116). We compared the average OHIP-14 scores among severity groups as well as examined the proportion of individuals with the poorest OHIP-14 scores (2, 3 and 4), known as OFOVO.
Results: We found no statistically significant differences in socio-demographic data (all p > 0.05), or in OHIP-14 scores (NO/MILD= 13.31±13.39, MOD= 12.71±11.65, SEV= 15.77±13.08; p = 0.176) by severity group. However, we did find an association between the proportion of OFOVO answers and the worst periodontal condition (NO/MILD= 71.1%, MOD= 77.4%, SEV= 85.1%; p = 0.036). When we examined the OHIP-14 at the item-level, we found that periodontal severity was associated with the “Uncomfortable to eat” item (NO/MILD= 43.5%, MOD= 54.3%, SEV= 62.8%; p = 0.02).
Conclusions: The deterioration of the periodontal condition was associated with increased proportion of OFOVO answers. The possible psychometric issues of the OHIP-14 might contribute to the inconsistent findings of the potential associations between the OHIP-14 items with the periodontal condition.