Impacto das condições de saúde bucal na qualidade de vida de trabalhadores de uma universidade pública

Abstract

The occupational health has been object of numerous studies, mainly because of the concern that the worker has a satisfactory quality of life and work. In this context, the field of worker’s oral health has as objective the relationship between oral health and work, trying to promote, preserve and restore the oral health of populations included in the various work processes. Recognizing the importance of social and psychological aspects in determining changes that compromise oral health, measurement tools capable of addressing psychological and social aspects, through self-perception and a survey of the impacts on quality of life, have been developed and validated by several authors. Considering the importance of the individual's subjective perception regarding their own oral health, this study aim to analyze the impact of oral health on quality of life of workers at a public university through the Oral Health Impact Profile in its reduced version (OHIP-14) and the associated factors that impact. For this, a cross-sectional epidemiological study was made with 326 workers in Administrative Technical Education (TAEs), aged 20 to 67 years. The data collection instrument was a self-completion questionnaire which contained, besides the issues of the OHIP-14, questions about self-rated health, morbidity buccal, oral hygiene habits and socioeconomic and demographic issues. The data were processed in a database created through the program Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15.0. After testing for normality KolmogorovSmirnov values mean OHIP-14 were compared by nonparametric Mann-Whitney test, with significance level of 5%. Analysis multiple linear regression was performed based on the variables that were significantly associated (p < 0,05) with OHIP-14 total in the bivariate analysis. The results revealed that the dimensions of the OHIP14 Physical pain and Discomfort psychological showed the greatest impact. About 40% of the impact of oral health on QoL, measured by OHIP-14 in this group of workers, can be explained by the variables education level, age, reason for visiting a dentist, oral health perception and satisfaction with teeth and mouth. The perception of oral health and satisfaction with teeth and mouth were the strongest predictors associated with the impact of oral health on QoL. These data confirm that subjective indicators are importants to analyse the needs reported by individuals. Thus, the use of OHIP-14 could be useful for planning programs and actions for worker health, prioritizing workers with greater psychosocial impacts produced by oral problems. Actions focused on the health education, with an emphasis on self-awareness, selfprotection and self-care should be explored further, as they would allow greater empowerment of working adults to act with more autonomy in the search for improving the quality of life and health.