ASSESSING QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS IN PATIENTS WITH PARTIAL AND COMPLETE ADONTIA BY APPLYING SF-36 QUESTIONNAIRE

Abstract

The aim of our study was tocarry out clinical analysis of quality of life indicators in patients with partial and complete adontia by using the SF-36 questionnaire. Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the study was the study of the quality of life of patients with partial and complete absence of teeth, which included the following main stages: development of a research protocol, selection of a research tool, examination of patients, data collection, database formation, scaling of questionnaire data, statistical data processing, analysis and interpretation results. Three groups were included in the study: patients with partial adontia, patients with complete adontia, and a control group for comparative analysis. Each group comprises 7 individuals, evenly distributed by age and gender. Among the general questionnaires employed, we used the SF-36 known as widely adopted instrument for the comprehensive examination of quality of life. This questionnaire is commonly employed in both population-based and specialized studies focused on the quality of life. The MOS SF-36 questionnaire consists of 36 questions categorized into 8 domains. Respondents provide answers in the form of points ranging from 0 to 100. A higher score on the scale is indicative of a higher standard of living. Results. Complete and partial adontia is characterized by the complete loss of permanent teeth, which leads to aesthetic, structural and functional changes that can negatively affect the quality of life, and which are minimized by rehabilitation with removable dentures. The findings obtained have revealed a decline in quality of life indicators across all domains of the SF-36 questionnaire in patients with partial adontia across nearly all age groups. Notably, in patients with a complete set of teeth, the disparities in indicators are most pronounced, exhibiting statistically significant differences when compared to the other group. Conclusion. The presented results from the assessment of the quality of life among patients with partial and complete absence of teeth by using the SF-36 questionnaire highlight a substantial reduction in overall quality of life for patients with dentition defects. This decline is evident across all domains of the questionnaire, and notably intensifies with the advancing age of patients.