Oral health impacts on self-rated general and oral health in a cross-sectional study of working age adults

ObjectivesThe aims were to assess the joint effects of oral health and general health functional problems on self-ratings of general and oral health among adults. MethodsData were collected from adults aged 30-61years in Australia by mailed survey in 2009-2010. Self-rated health of very good/excellent' was analysed by oral health impact (OHIP-14) and number of health problems (EQ-5D) controlling for socio-demographics. ResultsResponses were collected from n=1093 persons (response rate=39.1%). General health self-ratings were higher in the high-income group (prevalence ratio [PR]=1.06, 1.00-1.12) but lower for those with a higher number of health problems (PR=0.84, 0.76-0.93). The interaction of health problems with oral health impact indicated that self-rated general health was worst when both the number of health problems and OHIP score were higher. Oral health self-ratings were lower for males (PR=0.92, 0.87-0.98), those aged 50-61years (PR=0.92, 0.85-0.99), for those with more health problems (PR=0.82, 0.71-0.95) and higher oral health impact scores (PR=0.54, 0.46-0.64). ConclusionsFor working age adults, oral health impact was associated with general health for those with more health problems indicating those in worse health suffer more impact from oral health problems.