Impact of dental caries on the quality of life of adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of dental caries on daily activities, assessed by the Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (OIDP) and Child-OIDP in adolescents.

Methods: Studies published in any language mentioning the relationship between dental caries and OIDP or Child-OIDP were included. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, LILACS/BBO, and grey literature were assessed to identify relevant studies published up until March 2024. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute tool for cross-sectional studies. For the meta-analysis and the leave-one-out sensitivity analysis, the R software was used. The subgroup analysis was conducted considering the version of the tool (OIDP or Child-OIDP) and the outcome (presence or experience of dental caries).

Results: Of the 1,663 studies, 20 were included, all cross-sectional, with 17 of them conducted in schools. A total of 16 studies were considered to have high methodological quality. Individuals in the Child-OIDP and experience of dental caries subgroups showed a worse impact (PR=1.66; 95%CI 1.19-2.31; and PR=1.72; 95%CI 1.23-2.43, respectively). The heterogeneity of the studies was high (I2=97%; T2=0.17; p<0.01), and we did not identify any single study as the main source for this fact in the sensitivity analysis.

Conclusion: Dental caries negatively affect adolescents' daily activities. Despite nonsignificant differences between instruments and dental caries classifications, variations in effect estimates highlight the need for further research. New studies are suggested to confirm these findings, given the high heterogeneity found (PROSPERO CRD42021247951).