Beyond Aging: The Relationship Between Gerotranscendence and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life-A Scoping Review.

Abstract

Background: "Aging India" is an important public health issue given the various multifactorial physical, psychological, and social aspects of old age. In 2000, the elderly population (≥60 years) in India accounted for 7.7% (77 million) of the total population; this percentage increased to 8.6% (104 million) in 2011 and increased again to 9.4% (125 million) in 2017. Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is a multidimensional construct that impacts every aspect of daily activities. Gerotranscendence has been suggested to be an ability that enables adaptation and coping strategies from despair, found in Erikson's eighth developmental task. The study aimed to systematically map and synthesize the existing literature on the relationship between gerotranscendence and OHRQoL among older adults and map any evidence gap on the topic.

Methodology: This scoping review was conducted using Arksey O'Malley's framework, reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) ScR guidelines. The research question for this scoping review was: "What is the available evidence on the relation between gerotranscendence and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL)?" The databases searched were PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science. Grey literature was not included in this scoping review because it was poorly indexed and unstructured, and the effort required to structure it outweighed the benefits of rapid scoping. The search was conducted by one researcher, with the last search carried out in November 2025.

Results: The search of various databases yielded 95 records. After removing the duplicates and completing the title abstract screening, a total of six articles were identified for the full-text review. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, four articles were excluded, and two were included in this scoping review; both were cross-sectional studies and were conducted on a total of 2369 participants aged between 60-81 years.

Conclusion: This scoping review shows an intersection between psychosocial aging theory and oral health research. Gerotranscendence seems to modulate the way older adults perceive and respond to challenges presented by their oral health, which suggests that well-being later in life is not explained by clinical parameters alone.