Cross-sectional assessment of edentulous status and oral health-related quality of life in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: Quality of life (QoL) is progressively documented as a serious health outcome in managing chronic diseases. It is evaluated by individuals’ perceived physical and social functioning and their mental well-being. Evidence reviews indicate that diabetes can have a detrimental effect on QoL. Although assessing QoL involves methodological complexities, validated and reliable instruments are available for use with patients who have diabetes. Aim: The aim of this study is to appraise the association between edentulous status and oral health-related QoL (OHRQoL) in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty participants with T2DM were included on a convenient sampling basis and edentulous status was assessed and the mean Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) score of the participants was compared between the different categories. Results: One-way analysis of variance found significant differences across missing tooth groups for OHIP-4 ( P = 0.001), OHIP-6 ( P = 0.001), OHIP-10 ( P = 0.043), OHIP-11 ( P = 0.019), OHIP-13 ( P = 0.001), OHIP-14 ( P = 0.001), and OHIP-18 ( P = 0.009), indicating that these items vary with number of missing teeth and tend to have larger mean values in some categories. Most OHIP items (1–3, 5, 7–9, 12, 15–17, 19, and 20) were not significant ( P > 0.05). The overall QoL score also showed no significant difference between groups ( P = 0.329), suggesting no clear association between missing tooth category and global QoL. Conclusion: Out of the 20 items in the QoL assessment checklist, a statistically significant positive association between edentulous status and oral health–related quality of life (OHRQoL) was observed in 7 items.