- Impaired general health, reflected by higher GHQ-28 scores, was directly and significantly associated with poorer oral health related quality of life across OHIP-14 dimensions.
- Male gender, non-Iranian nationality and father's education level were identified as significant predictors of OHQoL in multivariate linear regression.
- Cross-sectional study of 622 pre-university students in Qom, mean age 19.7, assessed OHIP-14 and GHQ-28 prior to university entrance examination.
BMC Oral Health. 2026 Jul 10. doi: 10.1186/s12903-026-09092-x. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) refers to an individual’s perception of their oral condition and its impact on various aspects of life. Due to lack of comprehensive data that address the anxiety and stress among pre-university students with high tensions of admission exam, this study aimed to assess the mental health, anxiety and stress impact on OHQoL in high school students in Iran before university entrance exam.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study conducted on 622 high school students in Qom. Students were recruited through multi-stage sampling. The data required for the study were collected with three questionnaires, including a demographic questionnaire, 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) questionnaire, and general health questionnaire (GHQ-28). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 software, by Pearson correlation tests, as well as stepwise multivariate linear regression.
RESULTS: The mean age of the students participating in the study was 19.69 ± 0.871 years, of which 55.3% were female and 9.8% were non-Iranian. The mean overall general health and OHQoL scores in the studied students were 29.71 ± 10.96 and 16.43 ± 9.37 respectively. There is a direct and significant correlation between the general health score and its dimensions and the OHQoL score and its dimensions in students. The results of linear regression showed that a higher general health score, male gender, poor general health score, male gender, non-Iranian nationality, and higher father’s education level are predictors of OHQoL.
CONCLUSION: According to the results of the present study, as the general health score is impaired, the quality-of-life score and its various dimensions are impaired, and in students with impaired general health, the OHQoL will lose. In addition, the OHQoL is not suitable in male students, non-Iranians who have poor general health score and fathers with low literacy. Therefore, comprehensive and community-based interventions in students.
PMID:42432578 | DOI:10.1186/s12903-026-09092-x
Share Evidence Blueprint
Save to Google Notes
Search Google Scholar
Save as PDF
⭐ My Revision List
