Influence of the quality of life and locus of control of mothers of disabled children on the oral health of their children.

AIM: To investigate whether quality of life of mothers is related to oral health of disabled children.

METHOD: This is an analytical cross-sectional study, based on interviews with 49 mothers and oral clinical examination (DMFT and OHI-S) in children with disabilities from 2 to 6 years old, assisted by the Rehabilitation Center of Piracicaba, SP. Mothers answered WHOQOL BREF quality of life instrument and Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale. Data analysis was performed with descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and multiple logistic regression.

RESULT: Most children of the sample were aged from 37 to 48 months (40.81%) and presented neuropsychomotor development delay. Mothers reported (55.1%) that their interference in the health/illness of their children was a fortuitous process. The social relationships domain of WHOQOL BREF presented significant association (p = 0.0404) with DMFT index.

CONCLUSION: We observed that quality of life of mothers can interfere in oral health of children, regarding social relationships.