Prosthetic Status, Needs and Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQOL) in the Elderly Population of Aluva, India.

INTRODUCTION: Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQOL), being a patient-centred outcome has profound association with the existing prosthetic status and needs.

AIM: To assess the association between the prosthetic status and needs with OHRQOL in the elderly population of Aluva, Kochi, Kerala, India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the elderly residing in the municipal wards of Aluva municipality, Kochi, Kerala, India. A total of 539 subjects whose age was 60 years or above were considered for the study. Proforma utilizing a validated structured questionnaire of two sections; the first section noted with demographic details with WHO assessment of prosthetic needs and details regarding loss of teeth and denture wear and the second section consisted of Oral Health Impact Proflie (OHIP)-14 questions to measure the OHRQOL which was prepared in the local language. Type III oral examination (WHO Basic Oral Health Assessment 2013) was carried out on selected elderly subjects from house hold survey at municipal wards and recordings were done by the trained local health worker. ANOVA was used to find out the association between different domains of the OHIP and prosthetic status and need.

RESULTS: The prosthetic status was 18.2% and 14.7% and the prosthetic needs 62.7% and 60.3% of the upper and lower jaws respectively for the population. The prosthetic status was found to have no impact on the OHRQOL. However, the prosthetic need was significantly related to various components of OHRQOL of the study population. Of all the domains in OHRQOL, physical pain was the most affected in this population.

CONCLUSION: There is high unmet prosthetic care for non-institutionalised elderly population in Aluva.