Correlation between the Sense of Coherence and the Oral Health Related Quality of Life in 12-15-year-old School going Adolescents: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Understanding the psychosocial influencers of Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) is instrumental in developing holistic oral health interventions. However, the interplay between Sense of Coherence (SOC) and OHRQoL in school-going adolescents has been much less explored. Aim: To assess the correlation between SOC and OHRQoL in 12-15-year-old school-going adolescents. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of two years on 240 adolescents aged 12 to 15 years in Vadodara, Gujarat, India. The parameters assessed included SOC, measured using the SOC-13 scale and OHRQoL, evaluated using the Oral Impact on Daily Performance (OIDP-8) scale. A clinical examination was carried out to assess dental caries using the Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics for Windows, version 24.0. Correlational analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between SOC and QoL. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to assess the predictive effect of independent variables on OHRQoL. Results: The participants had a mean age of 13.07±0.89 years, with 164 (68.3%) being male. A significant negative correlation was found between SOC-13 and OIDP scores (r-value =-0.75, p-value <0.01), suggesting that a stronger SOC was associated with a lower oral impact. The multivariate linear regression model examined the influence of SOC-13, DMFT, age and sex on OIDP scores. SOC-13 was the strongest predictor of OIDP scores (β=- 0.741, p-value <0.001). Conclusion: SOC was found to be negatively correlated with OHRQoL in adolescents, with SOC-13 emerging as a more influential predictor than traditional clinical or demographic variables.