Oral health-related quality of life among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis

Objective: To evaluate the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in comparison with individuals with no RA.

Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 112 individuals distributed into two groups. Group 1 (G1) consisted of 42 RA individuals and group 2 (G2) consisted of 70 individuals without RA. Participants' OHRQoL was assessed by means of the long form of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP). The OHIP has 49 questions distributed across seven domains: functional limitation, physical pain, psychological discomfort, physical disability, psychological disability, social disability, and handicap. The overall score ranges between 0 and 196. A higher score denotes a greater negative impact on OHRQoL. All participants underwent oral examination for the evaluation of clinical variables. Sociodemographic and oral behavior variables were also collected. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney test, and regression analysis.

Results: Individuals in G1 presented higher OHIP overall score (p = 0.006) than G2 individuals. G1 individuals also presented higher scores in the functional limitation (p = 0.003) and the physical disability (p = 0.005) domains than G2 individuals. Individuals with RA (p = 0.044), individuals who brushed their teeth less often (p = 0.019), and those with a higher number of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) (p = 0.038) presented a significantly higher OHIP-49 overall score (more negative perception of their OHRQoL) than individuals without RA, individuals who brushed their teeth more often, and those with a lower DMFT.

Conclusion: RA individuals had a more negative perception of their OHRQoL compared with individuals with no RA.