Recent Findings from Department of Dental Hygiene Has Provided New Data on Environmental Research and Public Health (Relationship between Subjective Oral Discomfort and Health-Related Quality of Life in the South Korean Elderly Population)

2020 APR 01 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at South Korea Daily Report -- Current study results on Environmental Health - Environmental Research and Public Health have been published. According to news originating from Daejeon, South Korea, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “This study examined the relationship between oral discomfort and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in the Korean elderly, using the datasets provided by the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KHNANES) over 6 consecutive years (2010-2015). A total of 13,618 participants aged 65 years and over were included in the final analysis.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the Department of Dental Hygiene, “A complex sample logistic regression was performed to determine the impact of oral discomfort on HRQOL. The results revealed that toothache, masticatory discomfort, and pronunciation problems caused by oral health conditions were all risk factors for decreased HRQOL. In particular, masticatory discomfort (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.63, Model III (adjusted for all covariates)) and pronunciation problems (AOR 1.64, Model III) negatively impacted the HRQOL of the elderly to a great extent. Masticatory discomfort had a stronger negative impact on HRQOL in the domains of ‘self-care’ (AOR 1.83) and ‘usual activities’ (AOR 1.66), while pronunciation problems had a similar impact on all five domains of the EuroQol 5-Dimension (EQ-5D).”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “These findings could serve as baseline data for setting up early intervention programs for the timely prevention of oral health-related discomfort problems that greatly affect the QOL of the elderly population, and for the development of comprehensive and efficient dental insurance policies.”

For more information on this research see: Relationship between Subjective Oral Discomfort and Health-Related Quality of Life in the South Korean Elderly Population. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020;17(6):1906.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from S. Moon, Dept. of Dental Hygiene, Daejeon Health Institute of Technology, 21, Chungjeong-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon 34504, South Korea.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17061906. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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