Abstract
Background: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a major oral health problem, that affects infants and preschool children. A comprehensive assessment of the relationship between caries and quality of life related to oral health is necessary to understand its impact on daily life. This study aimed to estimate the influence of dental caries on the quality of life-related to oral health in children aged 3-6 years.
Subjects and Method: This meta-analysis was conducted using a PICO research question. Population: Children aged 3 to 6 years. Intervention: Have caries. Comparison: No caries. Outcome: Oral Health-related Quality of Life (OHRQoL). The articles were searched from databases PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, ProQuest, and Cochrane published from 2013 to 2023. Keywords used "Early Childhood Caries" AND "Oral Health-related Quality of Life” OR “OHRQoL” AND “Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale“ OR “ECOHIS” AND “Pre-School”. The inclusion criteria included full-text papers, English language, subjects aged 3 to 6 years, and multivariate analysis with adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR). The articles were analyzed using Review Manager 5.4.1.
Results: Nine primary studies were included in this meta-analysis from Malaysia, Hong Kong, India, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Trinidad, and Brazil. Children aged 3 to 6 years with dental caries had 1.28 times as much risk of poor quality of life-related to oral health compared to children without caries, and it was statistically significant (aOR=1.28; 95% CI = 1.18 to 1.39; p<0.001).
Conclusion: Dental caries deteriorate the quality of life-related to oral health in children aged 3 to 6 years.
Keywords: ECOHIS, OHRQoL, children.
Article Data
