Impacto da maloclusão na qualidade de vida e no grau de felicidade em escolares de Santa Maria - RS, Brasil

Abstract

Objetive: The aim of this study was to assess the influence of malocclusion on COHRQoL and self-reported happiness of adolescents. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional design study with multistage random sample of 1134 12 year-old schoolchildren was conducted at in Santa Maria-RS, Brazil. Four calibrated carried out clinical recorded malocclusion (Dental Aesthetic Index), dental caries (DMFT) and dental trauma (O Brien index). Participants answered the Brazilian versions of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ11-14) short form and the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS). Parents completed a structure questionnaire about socioeconomics status. The assessment of associations used a multilevel Poisson regression models. Results: A total of 1134 adolescents, 54.12% girls, were enrolled in this study. The DAI overall score ranged from 13 to 214 (mean: 25.33, standard error: 0.23); 42.4% of the sample had malocclusion and 7.5% had handcapping malocclusion. After adjustment for confounding variables, the severity of maloclusion was associated with high means of CPQ11- 14 overall score, being the social well-being domains the most affected. Malocclusion were associated with lower levels of happiness, adolescents with defined malocclusion present lower scores of the SHS scale (RR 0.97; 95% CI 0.94 0.99).Conclusion: Malocclusion had a negative impact on OHRQoL, mainly on social domain, and happiness.