Assessment of Oral Health-Related Quality of Life of the United Arab Emirates’ Elderly Population: Observational Prospective Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Study Setting, Design, and Population
2.2. Rationale for Study Design
2.3. Participant Recruitment
2.4. Sample Size Calculation
2.5. Survey Development
2.6. GOHAI Questionnaire Validation Process
2.7. Oral Health Investigation Procedure
2.8. Study Variables
2.9. Statistical Analysis
2.10. Ethical Consideration
3. Results
3.1. Demographic and Socio-Economic Characteristics
3.2. Oral Health Characteristics
3.3. Assessment of Self-Perceived Oral Health Status
3.4. Factors Associated with Self-Perceived Oral Health Status
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Demographic and Socio-Economic Characteristics | |||
---|---|---|---|
Demographic Characteristics | Response | Frequency | Percentage (%) |
Gender | Male | 202 | 63.5% |
Female | 116 | 36.5% | |
Age | ≤70 years | 276 | 86.8% |
>70 years | 42 | 13.2% | |
Marital Status | Single | 89 | 28% |
Divorced | 96 | 30.2% | |
Widower | 78 | 24.5% | |
Married | 55 | 17.3% | |
Education level | Less than school | 282 | 88.7% |
High school and college | 36 | 11.3% | |
Lifestyle | Family environment | 155 | 48.7% |
Living alone | 163 | 51.3% | |
Oral health characteristics | |||
Dental status | Dentate | 280 | 88.1% |
Edentulous | 38 | 11.9% | |
Number of missing teeth | ≤20 | 206 | 64.8% |
>20 | 112 | 35.2% | |
Prosthesis required | Yes | 95 | 29.9% |
No | 223 | 70.1% | |
Chewing problems | Yes | 75 | 23.6% |
No | 243 | 76.4% | |
Dry mouth | Yes | 141 | 44.3% |
No | 177 | 55.7% | |
Self-rated oral health | Good | 155 | 48.7% |
Bad | 163 | 51.3% |
Statistics | GOHAI ADD Score |
---|---|
Range | 0–37 |
% with a score of Zero | 3.5% |
Mean (SD) | 13.25 (7.3) |
Median | 12 |
Percentiles | |
25 | 9 |
50 | 12 |
75 | 17 |
GOHAI grading | N (%) |
Good perception (0–9) | 95 (29.9%) |
Moderate perception (10–12) | 77 (24.2%) |
Low perception (13–17) | 71 (22.3%) |
Bad perception (≥18) | 75 (23.6%) |
GOHAI, Geriatric Oral Health Assessment, SD, Standard deviation Score of zero: subject did not show any issues. |
GOHAI Items | Never | Sometimes | Fairly Often | Very Often | All the Time (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Functional limitation | |||||
Trouble biting/chewing food | 92 (28.9%) | 157 (49.4%) | 37 (11.6%) | 23 (7.2%) | 9 (2.8%) |
Uncomfortable to swallow | 103 (32.4%) | 154 (48.4%) | 33 (10.4%) | 22 (6.9%) | 6 (1.9%) |
Prevented from speaking | 67 (21.1%) | 155 (48.7%) | 60 (18.9%) | 28 (8.8%) | 8 (2.5%) |
Pain and discomfort | |||||
Discomfort when eating | 47 (14.8%) | 166 (52.2%) | 52 (16.4%) | 41 (12.9%) | 12 (3.8%) |
Use medication to relieve pain | 117 (36.8%) | 138 (43.4%) | 44 (13.8%) | 18 (5.7%) | 1 (0.3%) |
Teeth, gums, sensitive to hot/cold | 96 (30.2%) | 142 (44.7%) | 52 (16.4%) | 23 (7.2%) | 5 (1.6%) |
Psychological impacts | |||||
Unhappy with appearance | 84 (26.4%) | 173 (54.4%) | 47 (14.8%) | 11 (3.5%) | 3 (0.9%) |
Worried or concerned | 74 (23.3%) | 147 (46.2%) | 53 (16.7%) | 28 (8.8%) | 16 (5%) |
Nervous or self-conscious | 66 (20.8%) | 143 (45%) | 63 (19.8%) | 34 (10.7%) | 12 (3.8%) |
Behavioral impacts | |||||
Uncomfortable eating in front of people | 131 (41.2%) | 116 (36.5%) | 39 (12.3%) | 24 (7.5%) | 8 (2.5%) |
Limit kinds or amounts of food | 87 (27.4%) | 158 (49.7%) | 38 (11.9%) | 24 (7.5%) | 11 (3.5%) |
Limit contact with others | 87 (27.4%) | 157 (49.4%) | 47 (14.8%) | 21 (6.6%) | 6 (1.9%) |
GOHAI, Geriatric Oral Health Assessment; SD, Standard deviation |
Demographic | GOHAI ≥ 12 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
OR | 95% CI | p-Value * | ||
Major (Ref. male) | ||||
Female | 1.09 | 0.69 | 1.73 | 0.705 |
Age (Ref. ≤ 70 years) | ||||
≤70 years | 1.170 | 0.61 | 2.25 | 0.639 |
Marital status (Ref. Married) | ||||
Single | 1.69 | 0.86 | 3.32 | 0.131 |
Divorced | 1.68 | 0.86 | 3.28 | 0.128 |
Widower | 1.14 | 0.57 | 2.28 | 0.711 |
Lifestyle (Ref. Family environment) | ||||
Living alone | 1.38 | 0.89 | 2.15 | 0.154 |
Dental status (Ref. Dentate) | ||||
Edentulous | 2.68 | 1.26 | 5.73 | 0.01 |
Number of missing teeth (Ref. ≤ 20) | ||||
>20 | 1.31 | 0.820 | 2.07 | 0.26 |
Prosthesis required (Ref. No) | ||||
Yes | 2.09 | 1.27 | 3.46 | 0.004 |
Chewing problems (Ref. No) | ||||
Yes | 1.87 | 1.09 | 3.20 | 0.023 |
Dry mouth (Ref. No) | ||||
Yes | 2.21 | 1.40 | 3.48 | 0.001 |
Self-rated oral health (Ref. Good) | ||||
Bad | 1.88 | 1.20 | 2.93 | 0.006 |
Independent variables factors associated with GOHAI | ||||
Dry mouth | 2.164 | 1.358 | 3.447 | 0.001 |
Chewing problems | 1.757 | 1.007 | 3.066 | 0.047 |
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El-Dahiyat, F.; Jairoun, A.A.; Jairoun, O.; Eljilany, I.; Alsbou, M. Assessment of Oral Health-Related Quality of Life of the United Arab Emirates’ Elderly Population: Observational Prospective Cross-Sectional Study. Dent. J. 2025, 13, 123. https://doi.org/10.3390/dj13030123
El-Dahiyat F, Jairoun AA, Jairoun O, Eljilany I, Alsbou M. Assessment of Oral Health-Related Quality of Life of the United Arab Emirates’ Elderly Population: Observational Prospective Cross-Sectional Study. Dentistry Journal. 2025; 13(3):123. https://doi.org/10.3390/dj13030123
Chicago/Turabian StyleEl-Dahiyat, Faris, Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun, Obaida Jairoun, Islam Eljilany, and Mohammed Alsbou. 2025. "Assessment of Oral Health-Related Quality of Life of the United Arab Emirates’ Elderly Population: Observational Prospective Cross-Sectional Study" Dentistry Journal 13, no. 3: 123. https://doi.org/10.3390/dj13030123
APA StyleEl-Dahiyat, F., Jairoun, A. A., Jairoun, O., Eljilany, I., & Alsbou, M. (2025). Assessment of Oral Health-Related Quality of Life of the United Arab Emirates’ Elderly Population: Observational Prospective Cross-Sectional Study. Dentistry Journal, 13(3), 123. https://doi.org/10.3390/dj13030123