The impact of oral disease on quality of life in older adults is not well understood, in part because of the lack of adequate measures. The proposed two year project focuses on the validation and application of a measure of oral health related quality of life (OHQOL). In particular, we will examine (1) The correlates of OHQOL, including clinical and self report measures of oral health status and oral health function, and (2) The role of OHQOL as a mediator in the relationship between oral health status and oral health behaviors. The project will draw on existing data from 697 participants in the Normative Aging Study (NAS), who have also participated in its dental component, the Dental Longitudinal Study (DLS). In 1992, the NAS participants completed questionnaire measures about their oral quality of life, as well as self reports of oral health problems and pain. DLS participants have been receiving clinical dental exams triennially since 1969; these exams also include objective measures of oral function and questionnaire assessments of oral health behaviors. First, we will examine the validity of a measure of oral health related quality of life by studying its relationship to self report and clinical oral health status measures using correlation and regression methods. Next, we will examine the relationship of the clinical and self report oral health status measures to behaviors such as dental self care and utilization, and how they are mediated by OHQOL, using ordinary and logistic regression. Throughout, we will test the general hypothesis that the strongest predictors of poor OHQOL and of utilization are those which result in the greatest subjective decrements in oral function and activities. By using existing data to validate a measure of oral health related quality of life and to examine its relationship to dental care behaviors, we will help to improve the measurement of individual subjective assessments of the impact of oral disease on quality of life, and to increase our understanding of the contribution of such assessments to oral health behaviors, including utilization.
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