Abstract
Background: Stressful events may affect self-perceived general and oral health. While the working environment is known to expose military personnel to chronic stress, oral health reports in these populations is limited. Methods: This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the association of oral health related quality of life (OHRQL) and stress in the military population aboard a training ship for 6 months. The participants included were 259 crew and 227 cadets. Two anonymous questionnaires, the perceived stress scale (PSS-14) and the oral health impact profile (OHIP-14), were applied at baseline and follow-up (six-month later). Socio-demographic characteristics were also obtained. Results: Multivariate Poisson regression analysis showed that PSS-14 predicted higher OHIP-14 scores at baseline and follow-up. At follow-up, besides PSS-14 (RR: 2.03; 1.42-2.90), being part of the crew group represented an increase of 87% on the OHIP-14 scores (RR:1.87; 1.27-2.74). Older individuals were 24% less likely to present higher OHIP-14 scores (RR:0.76; 0.58-0.99) than younger ones. Conclusion: Oral health related quality of life has worsened over time in this military population, and stress was an associated factor of that. Trial registration: 10751419.8.0000.5256/2019.
Risk factors of oral health related quality of life: An evidence from Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing
