Prevalence and oral health-related quality of life of self-reported orofacial conditions in Sweden

Oral Dis. 2017 Mar;23(2):233-240. doi: 10.1111/odi.12600. Epub 2016 Dec 23.

Abstract

Objectives: To (i) determine the prevalences of self-report in a Swedish adult population, of temporomandibular disorders, burning mouth syndrome, dry mouth, and bad breath and (ii) determine oral health-related quality-of-life impairment in subjects reporting these conditions.

Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional, randomized sample of the adult Swedish population (response rate: 46%, N = 1309 subjects) self-reported their condition from the preceding month to assess prevalences of self-report for the studied conditions together with comorbidity group of subjects who reported more than one condition. The 49-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) used to assess oral health-related quality of life.

Results: The most prevalent condition was bad breath (39%), followed by dry mouth (22%), temporomandibular disorders (18%) and burning mouth syndrome (4%). High comorbidity of conditions occurred in 27% of the population. Quality-of-life impairment increased with the number of comorbid conditions. Among individual conditions, burning mouth syndrome and temporomandibular disorders (57% and 40% OHIP points) presented higher impairment than dry mouth and bad breath (32% and 26% OHIP points).

Conclusions: Orofacial conditions were common and often coexist. The comorbidity group experienced the highest impact on oral health-related quality of life: the more the comorbid conditions, the greater the negative impact.

Keywords: diseases; orofacial pain; pain; public health; quality of life.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Burning Mouth Syndrome / epidemiology*
  • Comorbidity
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Halitosis / epidemiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Oral Health*
  • Prevalence
  • Quality of Life*
  • Self Report
  • Sweden / epidemiology
  • Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / epidemiology*
  • Xerostomia / epidemiology*