Oral health-related quality of life of older Australian men

Objectives The aims of this study were to assess oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in a cohort of older Australian men and explore the association between their general health conditions, socio-demographic factors and OHRQoL. Methods The Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project (CHAMP) is a cohort study of the health of a representative sample of Australian men, initiated in 2005-2006 with an initial sample of 1705 men 70 years or over. Participants completed a self-administered health and socio-demographic questionnaire and attended an interview and clinical assessment at baseline and each of three follow-up assessments. Information on oral health and responses to the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) were collected in the 4th follow-up in which 778 men completed the OHIP-14 questionnaire and 614 men had a dental assessment. The prevalence of oral health impact was defined as a response of fairly often or very often to one or more of the OHIP-14 questions. Mean OHIP-14 scores were calculated for the 14 questions and used as the dependent variable in the regression analyses. Zero-inflated Poisson regression was used to estimate prevalence rate ratios (PRR). Results Only 10% of men presented oral health impacts. In multivariate regression modelling, being born in Italy/Greece (PRR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.93-2.42) or in other countries (PRR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.89-2.38), having poor self-rated general health (PRR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.24-1.53), having poor mental wellbeing (PRR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.04-1.24), having >= 6 depressive symptoms (PRR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.05-1.32), being a current smoker (PRR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.06-1.70) and having more decayed tooth surfaces (PRR:1.01, 95% CI: 1.00-1.02) were associated with higher impact scores. Conclusions Overall, older Australian men exhibit good oral health-related quality of life. The inter-relationship between perceptions of general health and well-being, health and oral health variables and social background supports policy objectives of closer integration of general health and oral health services for older Australian men.