Impacto de la Salud Oral en la Calidad de Vida de Adultos Mayores

objective: to relate oral health to quality of life in older adult patients at the faculty of dentistry, university of cartagena. design: cross sectional study. location: municipality of cartagena de indias, colombia. participants: 120 older adults selected from census of first quarter of 2011. main measures: sociodemographic variables, family life, geriatric oral health index (gohai) and diagnosis of oral health. data were analyzed using proportions, chi-square test for association between variables and odds ratios (or). results: chi-square test revealed statistical significance between poor oral health and negative impact on quality of life, according to the gohai (p = 0.01). problems of endodontic origin (or: 3.5, 95% ci: 1.4 to 8.4, p = 0.004), hypertension (or: 4.44, ci 95%: 1.5 to12, p = 0.005) and living in households with more than 5 family members (or: 3.38, 95%: 1.34 to 8.49, p = 0.009) all had negative impact on quality of life. in the logistic regression, these factors best explained the decreased quality of life associated with oral health (p = 0.0001, x2 = 21.31). conclusion: endodontic problems compromise quality of life in older adults. a psychosocial approach to oral health is needed that includes other factors capable of jeopardizing well-being.