Survey on the oral health related quality of life in patients with chronic pharyngitis

To assess the impact of chronic pharyngitis on oral health related quality of life.

Consecutive patients with chronic pharyngitis were recruited. 130 patients and 362 healthy controls were investigated by the questionnaire according to the Chinese version of the oral health impact profile-14 (OHIP-14). Spearman correlation anaylsis and multiple linear regression were performed to analyze the association between OHIP-14 and variables.

The total OHIP-14 scores of patients with chronic pharyngitis (9. 52 ± 7. 41) was higher than controls (7. 45 ± 7. 90), including functional limitations, physical pain subscale, psychological discomfort. Spearman correlation analysis showed that OHIP-14 scores were correlated with age, visual analogue scale (VAS) and the index of decayed-missed-filled teeth (DMFT) (rs = 0. 238, P = 0. 01; rs = 0. 473, P ＜ 0. 001; rs = 0. 26, P = 0. 005). In addition, there was highly significant association between the OHIP-14 score and VAS, as well as DMFT (steβ = 0. 353, P ＜ 0. 001; steβ = 0. 186, P =0. 037; R²= 0. 294).

Chronic pharyngitis has impacts on the oral health related quality of life. Enhanced prevention is suggested on the patient who has higher OHIP-14 score.