Resumo

FONSECA, Paulo Henrique de Almeida; ALMEIDA, Alessandra Maciel  e  SILVA, Aline Mendes. Oral health conditions of institutionalized elderly. RGO, Rev. gaúch. odontol. (Online) [online]. 2011, vol.59, n.2, pp. 193-200. ISSN 1981-8637.

Objective This paper investigated how institutionalized elderly from Contagem, MG (Brazil) perceived their oral health condition and analyzed associations among clinical, social, economic and demographic factors. Methods The sample consisted of 49 institutionalized elderly aged 60 years or more living in a public geriatric home. A questionnaire was administered to collect socioeconomic and demographic data and another to assess how the elderly perceived their oral health (Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index). Results The average GOHAI score was 30.3, demonstrating that oral health had a moderate impact on their quality of life. Regarding perceived impact in GOHAI domains, 44.9% of the individuals experienced a functional impact; 24.5% experienced a psychosocial impact; and 14.3% experienced pain and discomfort. According to GOHAI, significant associations were observed between age and perceived impact (p=0.032) as well as between oral health condition and education level (p=0.034). Conclusion The impact in the functional domain of GOHAI (44.0%), together with the results of the objective analysis on oral health conditions, stress the need for adopting policies that ensure promotion of oral health and of rehabilitation actions that improve elderly's quality of life

Palavras-chave : Dental care for aged; Quality of life; Oral health.