Comparison of the GOHAI and OHIP-14 as measures of the oral health-relatedquality of life of the elderly

Objectives: This paper compares the performance of the GOHAI and the OHIP-1 4 as measures of the oral health-related quality of life of the compromised elderly. Methods: Data were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 225 participants, most of whom lived in a large geriatric care centre. Results: The mean age of subjects was 83 years and the majority had one or more chr onic medical conditions and physical disabilities. Their main oral problems were high rates of tooth loss and xerostomia. Additive and simple count me thods were used to derive GOHAI and OHIP-14 scores. Using the additive meth od, 8.4% had a GOHAI score of zero and 30.3% an OHIP-14 score of zero. Usin g the simple count method the percentage with a score of zero was 15.1% and 45.8%. Both measures discriminated between dentate subjects with and witho ut one or more dentures, with and without a chewing problem and with and wi thout dry mouth. Both also showed significant associations with self-rated oral health and satisfaction with oral health status. Associations tended t o be stronger between GOHAI scores and these variables. The measures were e qually good at predicting overall psychological well-being and life satisfa ction. Although the GOHAI identified rn re oral functional and psychosocial impacts than the OHIP-14, neither was markedly superior to the other when used as discriminatory measures. However, the high prevalence of subjects w ith zero scores may compromise the ability of the OHIP-14 to detect within- subject change.