Self reported impacts of oral health on quality of life amongst 11-14 years old school children of Lahore, Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Oral diseases have considerable impact on quality of life. The impacts of oral health on quality of life may be quantified. No study has been carried out in Pakistan to quantify the impact of oral health on quality of life in children. The aim of this study was to quantify the impacts of oral health on quality of life in 11-14 year-old school children in Lahore, Pakistan. A cross sectional self reported questionnaire based survey was conducted in six randomly selected schools of Lahore District. A standardized validated Child Perception Questionnaire CPQ[11, 14][short form] with two incorporated questions regarding "global rating of oral health" and "effects of oral health on life overall" was administered to the six hundred and thirty three school children aged 11-14 years from the randomly selected schools. The data entry and analysis was carried out using SPSS version 15.0 The response rate was 91%. Ninety four percent participants reported some form of impact of oral health on their quality of life. A statistically significant relationship was found between impacts on quality of life and global rating of oral health, effects of oral health on life overall [p=0.000]. This study has shown that oral health has an impact on quality of life in children aged 11-14 years from Lahore, Pakistan