Assessment of Oral Hygiene Behavioral and Demographic Risk Factors for Extrahepatic Manifestations of Hepatitis C.

Background: Hepatitis C (HC) remains a major public health concern, affecting approximately 50 million people globally. In addition to hepatic damage, HC induces extrahepatic manifestations (EHMs), including oral conditions such as oral lichen planus (OLP), xerostomia, and Sjögren syndrome-like (SS-like), which impair quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association between certain extrahepatic manifestations of HC and the presence of risk factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 38 adults (22 males and 16 females; mean age 56.5 ± 8.6 years) with inactive HC. For each patient, demographic and clinical data were collected, including the following: frequency of dental brushing, frequency of professional dental hygiene visits, smoking, alcohol consumption, the presence of xerostomia, OLP, and SS-like. Logistic regression analyses and ROC curves were performed using R software to identify independent predictors for each condition. Results: OLP was present in 39.5%, xerostomia in 47.4%, and SS-like in 15.8% of patients. Female gender significantly predicted OLP and showed a borderline association with xerostomia. Smoking was weakly associated with xerostomia. No predictors were significant for SS-like. Conclusions: Oral hygiene and smoking are risk factors for oral EHM, their good control being important for the quality of life of these patients. Gender has also been shown to be a risk factor for these manifestations.