Association between oral health-related quality of life and mental health among university students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Mental health is bidirectionally associated with oral disorders Therefore, this study aims at assessing self-reported mental illness and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of group of university students in Riyadh city of Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study using a self-reported questionnaire that has several components such as Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) to identify the impact of oral health on different aspects of life and global rating of oral health, and mental health status by using Arabic translation of (depression (PHQ9-9items) and (generalized anxiety (GAD7-7 items) among group of university male and female students. All descriptive and correlation analysis were performed using STATA program (STATA Corp, College station, TX, US). A total of 614 participants. 205 (33.4 %) of participants had high scores of OHIP-14 which indicates the negative effect on their quality of life. They reported facing difficulty pronouncing certain words due to oral-related issues by 71(11.6 %). A statistically significant correlation was found between participants who reported mental disorders and high OHIP-14 mean score. Findings showed that participant who reported having severe depression had the highest OHIP-14 mean score (19.3 SD ± 14.2) compared to participants with no depression or having mild or moderate depression, also those who reported having severe anxiety had highest OHIP-14 man score (16.3 SD ± 12.0) compared to participants with no anxiety or having mild or moderate anxiety. As findings indicated the negative impact on OHRQoL among participants with depression and anxiety, interventions should be planned in a comprehensive manner aiming at improving oral and mental health.