Oral health-related quality of life of visually impaired children aged 7–18 years

Background: Only few studies have examined the impact of dental health on the quality of life of visually impaired children. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between oral health outcomes, socio-economic status, and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in visually impaired children aged 7–18 years. Methods: This study was conducted in special schools in Yogyakarta and Central Java Province. This study involved 70 visually impaired schoolchildren (aged 7–18 years; boys, 55.7% and girls, 44.3%). To investigate the oral health outcomes of caries, oral hygiene, and dental trauma, the Decayed, Missing, and Filled Permanent/Primary Teeth (DMFT/dmft) Index, Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S), and Traumatic Dental Injury Index were used. The Child Oral Health Impact Profile-Short Form 19 questionnaire was used to determine OHRQoL. Results: The mean DMFT Index and OHI-S scores were 4.8 ± 2.743 and 1.94 ± 0.84, respectively. Of the respondents, 22.9% had dental trauma. The Spearman correlation test showed no correlations between the mean OHRQoL score and DMFT/dmft score, no correlations between the mean OHRQoL and dental trauma, and no correlations between the mean OHRQoL and socio-economic status (P = 0.672, P = 0.551, and P = 0.465, respectively). The OHI-S score correlated with the OHRQoL score for the socio-emotional well-being domain (P = 0.031, r=−0.258). Conclusion: In the visually impaired children in this study, poor oral hygiene resulted in decreased OHRQoL. However, oral hygiene showed no significant relationships with dental trauma and socio-economic level, and caries showed no significant relationships with dental trauma and OHRQoL in these children.