Impact of type-1 diabetes and periodontal status on life quality.

Objectives: To determine the impact of periodontal status on quality of life (QoL) in patients with type-1 diabetes (T1DM) pre- and post-periodontal treatment.
Methods: 57 T1DM and 43 non-diabetic patients matched for gender and periodontal status (health, gingivitis, periodontitis) were recruited. The Well-being Questionnaire 12 (W-BQ12) and Audit of Diabetes Dependent Quality of Life-19 (ADDQoL-19) were self-completed by the T1DM patients at baseline and those with periodontitis at 3 months and 6 months after non-surgical periodontal therapy.
Results: There were no significant differences in the overall general W-BQ12 score between patients with healthy periodontal tissues (mean±SD; 24.6±2.19), gingivitis (24.1±5.14) or periodontitis (23.0±5.19) (p>0.05). A significantly higher general W-BQ12 score (indicating better QoL) was observed at month 3 (25.7±5.85) compared to pre-treatment baseline score (22.1±5.11) (p<0.05), suggesting an improvement in QoL post-periodontal treatment. The range of the ADDQoL-19 scores was -6.68 to 0.00, with a median score of -1.37 and lower quartile cut-off of -2.59. 42 (75%) T1DM patients reported an ADDQoL score of -2.59 or more, and 14 (25%) patients reported an ADDQoL score less than -2.59 (indicating lower QoL). Based on periodontal diagnosis, 73.7% of patients with periodontitis reported a lower QoL (using lower quartile cut off) compared to only 22.2% of healthy periodontal tissues and 25% of gingivitis patients at baseline. Diabetes had the greatest impact on the “freedom to eat” domain (-1.83±1.03) with the greatest importance placed on the “family life” domain (2.76±0.47) of the ADDQoL-19 for all T1DM patients. No significant changes in the ADDQoL-19 scores were shown following periodontal treatment in T1DM patients (p>0.05).
Conclusions: T1DM did impact on certain life aspects in this group of patients, however T1DM had no significant influence on QoL based upon their periodontal condition, as measured by the W-BQ12 and the ADDQoL-19 questionnaires, which may be inappropriate tools for assessing oral health-related QoL.