RESUMO
AIM: To assess oral health-related quality of life among psychiatric patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 400 inpatients and outpatients reporting to the Department of Psychiatry was taken as the final sample. Subjects diagnosed with mental illness and on medication for at least 1 year, who were able to respond to the pro forma and oral health impact profile (OHIP) questionnaire, were included. A guided, self-administered structured questionnaire was designed to include sociodemographic characteristics and short form of the OHIP-14 consisting of 14 items covering 7 domains: functional limitation, physical pain, psychological discomfort, physical disability, psychological disability, social disability and handicap. It was used to assess the impact of oral conditions on well-being and quality of life. The data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS IBM version 20.0. RESULTS: The highest mean OHIP score for the disorders was seen among the patients diagnosed with schizophrenia for functional limitation (2.73 ± 1.194), 2.91 ± 1.111 for psychological discomfort, 2.67 ± 1.203 was recorded for physical disability, 2.79 ± 1.156 was the mean score for psychological disability followed by a score of 2.87 ± 1.172 for social disability. The highest mean score for the handicap domain was recorded for schizophrenia patients (2.73 ± 1.241) whereas for physical pain, a mean score of 3.01 ± 1.261 was recorded for patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of the study, it can be stated that the psychiatrists should pay attention to the dental anxiety concerns of the patients and encourage them to visit oral health professionals. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The study highlights the importance of incorporating dental health education to psychiatric rehabilitation programs.
