COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF PARENTAL PERCEPTIONS OF THE ORAL HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE OF AUTISTIC AND NON-AUTISTIC CHILDREN AFTER FULL MOUTH REHABILITATION UNDER GENERAL ANESTHESIA

Objectives: To compare the parental perceptions of the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQOL) of autistic and non-autistic children after full mouth rehabilitation under general anesthesia (GA). Methods and Materials: The study included 114 autistic children and 116 children without autism. Two years after receiving therapy under GA, participating parents completed a condensed version of the Perceptions Questionnaire (P-CPQ) and Family Impact Scale (FIS).  Demographic data was collected. Oral symptoms, social health, psychology, functional limitation, and family affect ratings. Mean, standard deviation and statistical differences between groups were analyzed using SPSS. Results: Children with autism received higher overall P-CPQ scores than children without autism, according to the frequency distribution of the P-CPQ for parental perception when children with and without autism were compared. In all four domains, when scores were compared according to the domain, there was no statistically significant difference in the scores. According to the FIS frequency distribution, children with autism had higher total FIS scores than children without the condition. The change was not statistically significant, though. Only parental emotions showed a statistically significant difference when scores were examined by domain. Conclusion: Children with autism and children without autism score the same on the P-CPQ, indicating that the impact of comprehensive rehabilitation under GA is positive for both types of children. Parent emotions may not change immediately following the complete rehabilitation under GA which may be required to be handled separately to boost the confidence of the patient. Keywords: Autistic, children, general anesthesia, parents, perception