QUALITY OF LIFE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS FOR ELDERY PATIENTS – THE ORAL HEALTH IMPACT PROFILE QUESTIONNAIRE

Aim of the study The concept of quality of life in oral health involves psychological and social aspects for elderly patients – in this respect, there were created tools to quantify these elements, the representative is the complex questionnaires OHIP-14Sp. Material and methods The OHIP-14 questionnaire was applied to our study-group of 214 elderly patients, (121 women and 93 men), aged 57 to 74 years, from urban and rural areas. Recorded data were statistically processed using SPSS-18.0 software and interpreted, by correlating the psychological and social aspects and its impact on quality of life. Results The results obtained from the domains of the questionnaire revealed a moderate impaired quality of life, without statistically significant differences between Psychological and Social Disabilities (p=0,415/p=0,536). Conclusions This model demonstrates the importance of psychological factors and social aspects of quality of life in elderly patients, and the need for psycho-social approach in a broader spectrum within specialized medical treatments.