Experiences with the oral health impact profile (OHIP-H) questionnaire

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to perform an interventional Hungarian oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) clinical survey of patients requiring prosthetic treatment using the modified Hungarian version of the OHIP (OHIP-H) questionnaire which allows us to assess psychosocial impacts of the intervention in addition to conventional oral health indicators. METHODS: Patients were required to fill in the validated Hungarian version of the internationally accepted, comprehensive questionnaire, the 49-item version OHIP-H49 to assess OHRQoL before and after treatment. Additionally, we also investigated the influence of other independent variables such as socio-economic status, level of education, eating and oral hygiene habits, available dental services in our residential area (OHIP-HvDebrecen). RESULTS: Fifty and three participants (meag age: 58±11 yrs) completed the questionnaire. A linear regression model was used to determine the rate of improvement of OHRQoL at baseline (T0) and 1 month (T1) after oral and prosthetic rehabilitation. Decreasing OHIP score (Likert-type scale) results at 1 month of follow-up indicated that OHRQoL improved in 87 % of the subjects regardless of the type of denture applied. However, we have found differences in the magnitude of the decrease in OHIP scores depending on patients had total ( 34%), partially removable (40%) or fixed (26%) dentures. The largest improvement was observed in patients treated with fixed dentures. Patient-reported OHRQoL hasn't developed in 8 % of subjects and deteriorated in 6 % of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Modified OHIP-H proved suitable for evaluating of oral health requirements and OHRQoL of patients living in the less resourceful region of Hungary. The work/publication is supported by the TÁMOP 4.2.1/B-09/1/KONV-2010-0007 project. The project is co-financed by the European Union and the European Social Fund.