TRENDS AND FLUCTUATIONS IN THE IMPACT OF ORAL CONDITIONS AMONG OLDER ADULTS DURING A ONE-YEAR PERIOD

While longitudinal epidemiological studies document the rate of diseas e progression in populations, it is not known how people's lives are a ffected by oral conditions over a period of time. This study aimed to describe patterns of change in the reported impact of oral conditions among community-dwelling persons aged 61+ years in South Australia. A self-complete questionnaire, the Oral Health Impact Profile, obtained data about 49 impacts of oral conditions on everyday activities. Quest ionnaires were issued to 90 people once a month for 12 months and 67 p eople provided usable responses for at least nine months. The number o f reported impacts per month formed the dependent variable for analyzi ng patterns of change. An increase or decrease of at least two impacts from one month to the next was categorized as a fluctuation. Year-lon g trends of increase or decrease in at least two impacts were identifi ed using linear regression. Most people (86.5 per cent) experienced no trend, although nearly one half of them reported fluctuations in at l east one month. Trends were more likely among denture wearers and peop le with 16+ missing teeth (P<0.05), although the associations were con founded by initial impact scores which were higher for both groups. Im pacts concerning eating and oral pain were subject to the greatest amo unt of change. The findings demonstrate that many older adults experie nce short-term impacts of oral conditions during longer periods of tem poral stability in perceived impact of oral health