Oral health-related quality of life and its association with sense of coherence and social support among Yemeni immigrants in Malaysia

Oral health problems prove to be a significant public health issue due to their high prevalence and their impacts on people's self-confidence and basic physical functions such as talking, chewing and smiling, all of which affect an individual's social role. For that, this study aims to determine oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and its association with a sense of coherence (SOC) and perceived social support among Yemeni adults residing in Malaysia. Data was collected from 223 Yemeni adults residing in Malaysia for over a year. The data collection instruments used were: a short version of the sense of coherence Scale (SOC-13), a new short version of the oral health impact profile (OHIP-5) questionnaire, the multidimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS), and a questionnaire containing socio-demographic and oral health behaviours information. Simple and adjusted binary logistic regression analyses with the level of significance p < 0.05 were used to determine the association between the independent factors and OHRQoL. Negative impacts on quality of life due to oral health issues were reported by (57.8%) of the participants, and a statistically significant association between SOC and OHRQoL was found; participants with weak SOC were more likely to have a negative impact on their OHRQol than individuals with strong SOC (AOR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.4-5.5). Additionally, self-assessment of oral health as poor (AOR = 4.6, 95% CI 1.5-14.1) were also associated with a negative impact OHRQoL. On the other hand, this study found that a longer period since the last dentist visit was a protective factor against negative impacts on quality of life (p < 0.05). In terms of perceived social support, no association was found between any categories of perceived social support and OHRQoL. In Conclusion, sense of coherence showed a statistically significant association with OHRQoL, emphasizing psychological factors' potential role in oral health. The findings support the hypothesis that SOC is a psychosocial determinant that could act as a protective factor against negative impact on OHRQoL.