A Study to Assess the Oral Health Related Quality of Life among Eunuchs Residing in Central Gujarat

1Dr. Pulkit Kalyan*, Dr. Bhavna Dave, Dr. Neeraj Deshpande and Darpan Panchal

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Abstract:

Introduction: The health and quality of life overall is affected by an individual’s oral health. The low and middle income countries are affected by inadequate attention to the oral health which result in oral disease becoming a major public health problem that need to be addressed. This is the reason, recently, there is increasing attention and global awareness is given to the oral health and its various determinants. Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) is defined by individual assessment of several oral health dimensions including physical dental function, tooth pain, psychological discomfort, and social impacts--all of which affect overall well-being. Selfreported subjective indicators of OHRQoL correlate well with objective clinical measures of oral health status. So OHRQoL at the individual level points to the need for clinical treatment and at the population level can be used to evaluate oral health interventions. Objectives: To assess the OHRQoL using OHIP 14 and to analyze the association between the OHRQoL using OHIP 14 and various demographic variables. Methodology: The survey was conducted among the 384 eunuchs population living central Gujarat. Non Probability snow ball sampling was used in inclusion of self identified Eunuchs. The data was recorded by one examiner (Primary Investigator) and one recorder (Calibrated dental hygienist) for the entire study. The data was collected through structured schedules resulting in quantitative data. The data was analyzed with Chi square test of Association, Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis Test using SPSS version 21. Results: The study shows that out of 384 eunuchs, 1.04% were children less than 11 years, 3.9% are adolescents, 74.44% were adults who are more than 18 years and less than 60 years and the remaining sample, that is, 20.5% were more than 60 years. 27.5% of the participants had educational background, 87% of the participants were dentate and remaining were edentate. The Oral health related quality of life showed significant association and difference between the various parameters and the demographic variable. Conclusion: In general, the quality of dental health and oral health related quality of life are interlinked and positively associated with the various demographic factors like gender, age group, education background and income. The eunuchs form a vulnerable population and an immediate action is required in preventive and promotive aspects to improve the oral health related quality of life which in turn would improve the overall quality of life. This in turn will drive this socially stigmatized community to have a positive dental health attitude and behavior.

Keywords:

OHRQoL, OHIP, Eunuchs, Behavior, Attitude.

Paper Details
Month5
Year2020
Volume24
IssueIssue 5
Pages7424-7431