Impact of the onset of fixed appliance therapy on adolescents' quality of life using a specific condition questionnaire: A cross-sectional comparison between male and female individuals.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of the first six months of orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of adolescents, comparing boys and girls, using a specific condition questionnaire.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

SETTING

School of Dentistry of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

PARTICIPANTS

Adolescents aged 10-17 years.

METHODS

Forty-six adolescents participated in this study. Adolescents' OHRQoL was evaluated using the Brazilian version of the questionnaire Impact of Fixed Appliances Measure. This questionnaire comprises 43 questions distributed across nine domains: aesthetics; functional limitation; dietary impact; oral hygiene impact; maintenance impact; physical impact; social impact; time constraints; and travel/cost/inconvenience implications. The answer options follow the Likert scale, in the range of 1-5. A higher score indicates a more negative impact on the OHRQoL. Adolescents' malocclusion was assessed using the Dental Aesthetic Index. Information on family income, adolescents' age and tooth extraction was also collected. A directed acyclic graph was used to identify potential confounders. Statistical analysis involved the chi-square test, the Student's t test and the analysis of covariance. The minimal clinically important difference was also calculated.

RESULTS

Of the 46 participants, 25 were girls and 21 were boys. The female adolescents presented a more negative impact from the orthodontic treatment on the quality of life when compared to the male adolescents (P < 0.001), regardless of the influence of the confounding variables. The most negative repercussions were identified in the domains of oral hygiene (P = 0.002), physical impact (P < 0.001) and social impact (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The impact of the first six months of orthodontic treatment on OHRQoL is more negative in female individuals than in male individuals. The results of this study may be useful for the oral healthcare provider during the counselling of adolescents undergoing fixed appliance therapy.